


Your Courage

by shinchiisanakyojin



Series: What Makes Me Love You [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Atheism, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Honestly this should be an actual tag., Jean is a perv, M/M, Religion, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-01-21 14:41:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 49,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1554011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinchiisanakyojin/pseuds/shinchiisanakyojin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean is a feshman in Sina University and an aspiring teacher. On his first day he meets his roommate Armin and it's almost like love at first sight. The only problem is that, unlike Jean, his roommate is straight. This forces him to deal with his uncontrollable crush, his responsibilities as a student and his hidden insecurities all at once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Since this is Jean's POV, I just hope this isn't too repetitive! Ugh!)
> 
> In which Jean is a pervert and thinks God is one of his bros.

Jean started his first day of college by trying to drag his stuff to his dorm. He was glad he hadn’t brought everything his mother suggested or instead of one giant box and a huge backpack he’d have his whole house. He watched the back of the family’s car leaving and stared at the box laying on the ground. He should have asked for help. Lowering his body, Jean got the box and walked into the building.

It was nice, with a classic look to it and Jean had his room number memorized: 104. He had everything planned... Well, everything except finding the most handsome guy he had ever seen at his door.

Jean even turned to the side so he could check him out better. The brunet stared at other, confused — And slightly happy —, while the guy with golden hair softly banged his head against the door. His eyes were shut and the movement made his long hair dangle.

Jean decided to say something when he realized he had been staring for a few seconds now and would probably start drooling soon.

“Are you getting in or...?”

The handsome blond was so immersed in his thoughts he instinctively skipped to the opposite side and let out squeak, for which Jean just couldn’t resist laughing a little. Mostly because it was really funny but also because he found it to be really cute.

“I–...! Yes, actually I am. Excuse me.” He straightened up, maybe trying to look a little more respectful and quickly got into the room.

Jean followed and his heart skipped a bit or two when he saw no one else occupied the room.

 _Yes! Hot roommate. Thank you God!_ _N_ _ow could you please let him be awesome and gay? Come on, is not too much to ask, right? Okay, I know it is, I’m basically asking for a soul mate, but come on! You’re God! You can do it, I’m sure. Thanks in advance, man._

His stupid smile wouldn’t leave his face so he decided to use small talk as a disguise. He put his box on the floor, along with his backpack and placed his hands on his waist.

“Hey, this is kinda nice.” Jean turned around to find the other staring at him with his perfect blue eyes while his brain seemed to work at a million miles per hour. Jean realized he would have to break the ice, so he extended his hand. “So... I’m Jean Kirstein. Nice to meet you...?”

“Armin... Arlert.” The blond shook his hand but the touch was so delicate and cold Jean thought he might be made of porcelain.

“So, what’s your major?” Jean asked.

“Oceanography.”

“Really? Awesome! Mine is Biological Sciences. I guess we might have some classes together.”

“... You’re majoring in _Biological Sciences_?”

“Well.... Yeah. Why? What did you think I was majoring in?” He laughed a bit, trying to imagine what the other had in mind.

“I don’t know... Is there a major for modeling?” Armin asked, giving a small chuckle.

“Uh? W-What?” Jean could feel his cheeks and ears burning.

_Wait, are you serious? You actually gave me a gay roommate?_

“S-Sorry! I-I didn’t mean to s-say it like that! I-It was supposed to be a joke, b-because you’re g-good-looking and... I’m not making it sound any better, am I?”

“If by ‘better’ you meant ‘less gay’, then... No.”

“I-I’m not–...! I don’t–...!” Armin shook his hands in front of his face, so embarrassed he even lowered his head.

“Hey, relax, dude!” Jean laughed “I don’t really care if you like boys, girls, or... I dunno, stuffed animals. All I care is: Do you snore?”

_You bastard. You teased me just to take it away, didn’t you? I hope you have something much better prepared for me, you hear?_

“But I–! Wait, what? No.” Jean could see the confusion in his roommate’s expression.

“Then fine by me. As long as you give me a heads up and keep things limited to your own bed you can bring the whole football team to this room.”

“I’m not gay! And even if I was, I’m not going to sleep with a football team. And why on earth are we talking about my sex life in our first talk?”

“I dunno, man, you started it.” Jean’s eyebrows raised and he threw his hands in the air trying to free himself from any guilt.

“I did not!!!” Armin closed his fists and straightened up his whole body. He was so adorable Jean had to hold his own stupid smile.

“Dude, you’re getting waaay too worked up. Relaaax, I’m just messing with you.” Jean felt he needed to sit down. This talk would take forever. He laughed and made himself comfortable on his chair. When he realized Armin still stood he stretched his leg, pulling another chair and pushing it so the blond could sit.

“Look, this is our first talk, let’s get to know each other, okay? In a straight way.” He tried to make the other relax a bit, but ended up having to hold hisown laugh once again. He had so much fun amusing himself.

“Okay, fine.” Finally, Armin sat down and his expression softened.

“So, why did you come to Sina Uni?”

“Well... I thought a lot about which one I’d go, and I wanted something, how can I say... Away from my own home, but still able to visit whenever I wanted so I–...”

“Wait! Hold on. ‘which one’? You were accepted to more than one?”

“Y-Yes... I was... I actually got letters from...F-Five.” Armin lowered his head and Jean missed the sight of those gorgeous eyes.

“...Five?” Jean’s voice came out higher than he expected. He tried to fix it with a cough. “W-Which ones?”

“Well... Obviously Sina and... Uh, Maria, Rose, Shiganshina and... Stohess.” He could barely hear the last one.

“Stohess? You were accepted at–...! OH MY GOD!!!”

“Y-Yes, please don’t do this. I just... Study a lot. I like–!”

“Why the hell are you ashamed of being accepted to Stohess?”

Jean was trying to figure out why this guy seemed to be so shy. He was handsome, unbelievably smart and as far as he could see, a gentle and nice guy. He seemed perfect. Everything Jean ever hoped to be. It didn’t make sense.

Jean lowered his head so he could see Armin’s expression, trying to see something in there that could help him figure it out what was going on inside that head.

“You might study a lot, but you have to be, like, super smart to get in, okay? My buddy, Marco, and I spent the three years we were in high-school working our asses off to get in and we couldn’t do it. Only geniuses get in. You’re awesome, dude.”

“...Thank you. Now get away from me.” It took Armin a few seconds to reply, and then Jean’s face was pushed by those soft cold fingers and the brunet could feel himself melting inside.

“Hey! That’s no way to treat your crush!” Jean said jokingly, trying to cover the sound of his heartbeats that seemed to be louder than a drum set.

 _Oh my God, what the fuck is going on, man? Keep it together. This never happened to you before. It’s just a guy. It’s just a hot guy. You’ve seen one of those before. You’ve_ been _with one of those before. Just calm down! Geez. What are you? A teenage girl?_

“Shut up! Like I could ever fall for a dork like you.” Armin stood up laughing and turned around, walking towards his box on the floor. Jean’s eyes instantly lowered to the blond’s flawless bottom and he was so glad Armin's horrible swearing techniques distracted him from imagining what it would be like to grab it.

“Wow. ‘Dork’. Who taught you how to curse? Your grandma?”

“Actually, I was raised by my grandfather and he didn’t like cursing, so that’s the best you’re getting from me. Sorry.” He told Jean, smiling at him.

_Great. Even his smile is perfect. Fuck my life._

“Okay, first thing you’ll learn in college is how to insult someone and don’t look like... An _actual_ dork.”

Jean decided it was time to focus on taking his things out pf his box so he couldn’t focus on Armin. And at that same moment he realized it would be nearly impossible to do so. Every little thing the other did seemed to be intentional, in order to make Jean’s hear skip a beat.

Jean thought he might lose it when Armin tied up his hair in a ponytail, leaving this nape exposed. For the next ten minutes Jean couldn’t stop imagining himself kissing the area. He was going crazy and didn’t even understand why. But whatever was causing those feelings — Love or hormones — didn’t seem to be leaving soon.

This would definitely be a long year.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean hates himself.

Classes had started a week ago and were already stressing out Jean. He sat by the desk, his hands holding his head in place while he squinted, moving his lips to see if he could understand the words he read from the textbook. He laid back on his chair, tipping it backwards and letting out an exhausted groan. He got the chair back to his place and got up, stretching while turning to look at Armin.

The blond was sitting on the bed, surrounded by books, writing vigorously on his notebook. His hair was tied up and the tip of his tongue slipped out of his mouth matching his intense expression. Jean actually caught himself staring for a moment. He had started to realize how much Armin’s mannerisms had an effect on him.

In class, earlier that day, Jean turned to the boy to make a comment about the insanity of their chemistry teacher but ended up finding himself observing the other instead. He noticed how the boy stared at his notebook making notes of every word the teacher said. He also noticed the other was left-handed and how he would use his right hand  put his golden locks behind his ear from time to time so they wouldn’t get in the way. But what Jean hadn't noticed  was how much he had stared until Armin started to talk to him and he realized class was over and he almost didn’t know what it had been about.

Jean had never doubted his sexuality. He was, and would always be gay. He was never interested in girls, but from a young age he also knew his sexual orientation would be seen as “wrong” or “abnormal” by some people. He had lost count of how many of his friends were forbidden to play with him by their parents because “they didn’t want their kid turning gay” or because “the Kirstein kid is _weird_ ”. Still, Jean would never lie about it. If asked, he would answer. If he was dating, holding hands or kissing in public was not a problem for him. He was perfectly fine with his sexuality. He just never thought he’d ever fall in love like this.

He never thought he would fall madly in love with the straight guy he had to share a room with. He never thought he would have to keep it a secret. Even though his heart would hit a billion times faster when he was around, Armin had made it very clear he wasn’t into guys, so Jean tried to suppress any thoughts about the blond the very moment they rose from the bottom of his mind. Of course, this was easier said than done. 

“Hey, what are you writing? Are those your notes?” He asked, moving away from his desk.

“No, it’s the paper for Professor Hange’s class.” Armin replied automatically, not even stopping to write to do so.

“...Okay, first of all, is this the crazy chemistry teacher? Second, the paper is due next month. And third: why the fuck are you doing this by hand?”

“Yes it is, I don’t want it to get in my way when I have other papers and I don’t own a computer.”

“...You don’t own a computer?”

Jean thought his ears were broken, so he decide to ask again, lowering Armin’s notebook with his hand so he would look at him.

“No. And can you please let me write? I’m going to lose my train of thought.”

“What kind of person doesn’t own a computer?”

"The kind of person who grew up in a really small town, with an extremely religious grandfather that wouldn’t let him own a computer so he wouldn’t ‘find sinful things’ on the internet. Or the ‘Godless fake world’ like he used to call it.”

“...Holy shit. That’s...” Fucked up. Really fucked up. That’s what he wanted to say. But decided not to, since they _were_ talking about Armin’s grandfather. “...Look, you can use mine, okay?”

He reached his backpack, taking his laptop out of it and throwing it in front of Armin.

“You have a laptop.” He didn’t seem to be asking.

“Well, yeah. Obviously.” Jean was trying to figure out the point of that statement.

“Wow, that is so cool.”

Armin ran his hands through the surface like he had just discovered a new kind of texture and was trying to memorize it. Of course, Jean immediately had to erase the thoughts in which those pale thin hands were touching his chest instead of the cold surface of his laptop.

“No one has one of those where I live. Well, actually my friend’s father owns one, but he wouldn’t let us touch it. When people had computers it was always the one you put on a desk.” Armin explained, putting his hair behind his ear.

“...Okay, where the fuck did you live? An Amish Community or something?”

“Will you stop mocking me? I told you, it was a __really_ _ small town. People there were simple-minded. The merchants had no reason to bring the newest and best models of anything because no one there would have the money or desire to buy it. So some of us would have computers, cellphones, but no one would bring a laptop or a smart-phone to sell, you see? So we would just stick to the old ones. But anyway, can I really use it?”

“Sure, man. Anytime. Just take it and don’t _ever_ write your papers by hand. Seriously.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, placing the laptop on this lap. “Where’s the mouse?”

“Oh, you poor Amish boy.”

 

\---------------------------------

  
When night came Jean was laying on Armin’s bed with his feet on his pillow — Which Armin had carefully covered with a blanket — when his phone beeped. He took it out of his hood’s pocket and checked the screen to see a new message from his friend Marco.

 **Marco  
** _**Wanna come over? There’s booze and some seniors (Reiner’s friends)** _

**Jean  
** _**Can I bring a friend?**_

 **Marco  
** _**Sure :)**_

“Hey, wanna go out?” He asked, raising his eyes so he could see Armin’s face even though his head was curved down from his position.

“Go out? Now?” Armin still had Jean’s laptop. Jean was sure he had finished his paper hours ago but he knew the blond wouldn’t miss the chance of using it, so he let that one go.

“Yeah. My friend Marco and some seniors are at his room. He knows one of them, so the whole group just got together.

Armin stared at the clock and Jean could almost hear the gears inside his head working at full speed. After a while, Jean got tired of waiting for Armin’s brain to let him return to reality, so he decided to bring him back on his own.

“Armiiiin... Earth calling!” He waved.

“Oh! Ah, yes, yes. Sure. Let me get dressed.” Armin put the laptop on the bed, turning it of and picked up some clothes from his bag.

“Alright! Amish-boy is going to party!” He seemed a little embarrassed so Jean decided to ease the mood.

“I’m not Amish and I’m _not_ going to ‘party’, Jean.”

“Ohh! You know what ‘party’ means!” Jean was actually surprised, so he decided to mockingly clap his hands.

“Oh, shut u-”

Armin stopped mid-sentence and Jean could swear he saw him blush before he quickly turned around. Once again, Jean’s eyes immediately checked out the blond’s bottom.

_Goddammit, what the fuck wrong with you? Have some self control! There’s obviously something wrong, be considerate for fuck’s sake, you pervert._

“You okay, man?”

“Y-Yes, yes, I’m fine. L-Let’s go?”

Armin turned once again and his face had returned to it’s usual ivory tone. Maybe it was just Jean’s imagination. He put on his coat and decided to let it go.

 

\---------------------------------

 

When they arrived, Jean got into the room and walked in Marco’s direction. The boy got up and walked towards Jean, who gave him the usual pat on the back.

“Hey, I’m glad you decided to come, Jean. Is this the friend you talked about?” Marco was being polite as usual.

“Yeah, this is Armin. He’s my Amish roommate.” Jean indicated Armin with his head, hoping to get a response from blond.

“J-Jean! I-I’m not really Amish.” Armin gently shook Marco’s hand.

“I figured.” Marco replied, laughing “Anyway, this are our seniors. Ymir, Krista and Bertolt.”

The seniors sat on the ground, forming a circle with some missing spots. Ymir, the taller girl with dark hair greeted the two boys by raising a beer. Krista, probably her girlfriend, sat on her lap, giving a small wave. Bertolt was really tall but seemed to be very shy since he just nodded politely when introduced.

“My friend Reiner went to get us some vodka and more beer, he’ll be back soon.” Marco explained, sitting by Bertolt’s side.

Jean could see the look Armin always had when his brain was working, so he decided to follow Marco, expecting to take the blond out of his trance. It worked, and Armin sat by his side almost automatically.

After a few seconds of silence, Jean decided to break the ice by introducing himself and asking about the seniors. Krista, the tiny girl that looked like an angel, was apparently majoring in Art History. Her now confirmed girlfriend, Ymir, was majoring in P.E. and Bertolt’s major was Computer Engineering.

While they were friendly discussing their futures — And making fun of each others majors — the door opened and a blond guy came in. When he did, Jean was sure he’d be one of Ymir’s friends, because his major was obvious. His shoulders were broad and he was really tall, even for Jean.

“Sorry it took so long, the nearby store wasn’t open so I had to- Heeeey! It’s Barbie!”

The second the new guy finished his sentence, Jean realized he was laughing. Hard. He felt bad for Armin and used all his strength to stop when he saw the look on the blond’s face.

“I’m sorry, man. I just had to. You didn’t even give me a chance to apologize at that time, so this is your punishment. Now come on, have a drink. There’s enough for everyone.”

Jean didn’t really know what his senior was talking about, but he figured they had met before. Obviously, deep in his heart he felt a small sting from a bug called jealousy.

He noticed the shot glasses recently filled with vodka in the center of the circle and imagined what would happen to the obviously “alcohol-virgin” Armin if he had one or two of those.

“You might wanna start with a b-”

Armin didn’t even give him a chance to finish. The boy shoved the drink down his own throat and shook his head after it, making a sour face. Jean’s brain was completely frozen. He could barely hear the “crowd” cheering for the boy.

_Well, if he wants to get drunk, I guess it’s his choice, right?_

He shook his head, raising his hands and laughing a bit. Armin stared at him for a few seconds, still looking angry and drank another shot. Like Jean imagined, that was all it took to get the boy drunk. After a few minutes playing cards, the blond was laughing at everything. However, from time to time he would frown again, like he was thinking about something serious so he would take a long gulp of beer in order to return to his “happy place”. Jean was starting to get worried.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Marco asked, sitting on the bed besides Jean. The game was over and people ended up dividing themselves into smaller groups. Ymir and Krista were having fun taking a billion selfie just so they could drag poor and shy Bertolt into them. Jean was sitting on the bed, keeping an eye on Armin. The blond, Marco and Reiner were chatting, while playing with the cards without actually playing any games, until the brunet got up to talk to Jean.

“Uh? Oh, nothing. Just keeping an eye on the Amish-boy. I’m pretty sure he’s never drank before, so someone should look out for him.”

“I see... Can I ask you something, even though I probably know the answer already?” Marco stared at the beer in his hand.

“Yeah, go ahead.” Jean took a sip of his own beer, still staring at Armin.

The blond was watching Reiner make some stupid magic tricks like they were the most amazing thing to see on earth. Jean could see Reiner checking him out, specially when he went to the bathroom and Jean could see the older boy’s eyes fixated on Armin's bottom.

 _Take your eyes of that ass, you jerk. I should be the only one starring at it. Why? Because. I was in love with him first. I want him more than anything. That’s why. I don’t care if those are lame reasons that make no sense. Just follow the rule_ _s_ _I just made up_ _, dude._

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Jean had almost forgot about Marco, still by his side, talking to him.

“Wh-What?” 

“You don’t have to hide. I’ve known you since we were kids.”

“...Yeah. It’s driving me crazy.” Jean rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger letting out a long sigh.

“I can see that. You were almost ripping Reiner’s head off with your eyes, just because he looked at the guys ass.”

“Oh, shut up, freckles.”

“You can tell me to shut up or go fuck myself, but it won’t change the fact you’re crazy about him.”

“I know. Go fuck yourself.” Jean let a smirk show.

“I’ll try.” Marco laughed lightly. “So... Does he like what you like?”

“Nope.”

“That sucks, man. I'm here if you need anything.”

“Geez, don’t make it gay.” Jean gave Marco a light punch on the arm, laughing.

“It’s your fault for rubbing your gay germs all over me.” Marco laughed, faking disgust, wiping the place Jean had punched.

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll rub them on your ass... And you’ll like it.” Jean raised his eyebrows, faking a sexy look.

“Yeah, right. Like I’d ever let you top.” Marco tried to return the look, having to hold his laugh.

“Wow, you suck at this. This is why you can’t get laid.”

“Don’t even tell me, man.” He laughed, placing his head on his harms, folded over his bent legs, like he was crying.

“Well, at least you got a chance. It’s not like you’re in love with someone who won’t ever love you.”

“Don’t. Don’t be like this, come on. You’re getting over it.”

He gave Jean a hug, using only his right arm. Jean went with the motions and laid his head on Marco’s shoulder, using it as a pillow, after he almost laid down on the brunet’s bed. He kept watching Armin, who had just returned from the bathroom, and his jealousy was nearly killing him, specially since Reiner was being obvious about his flirting and Armin wasn’t even noticing his moves.

_I should be the one trying to corrupt his innocence, you fuck._

They barely noticed the time pass until it was about 2:30AM. Jean got up from the bed and picked up Armin from the floor. He was having a hard time getting up, after all. Jean didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if he wasn’t managing Armin’s drinks.

Everyone said their goodbyes — Obviously, Reiner gave Armin a specially friendly goodbye — and went back to their own rooms. Ymir and Krista were even wearing hoodies and walking differently so no one would notice they were girls. They were probably used to coming to the boy's dorm because of Bertolt and Reiner. Armin was singing on the way, getting Jean even more frustrated by the second.

_I bet he’s like this because of Reiner. Oh shut up you jealous douche! He’s not even gay, stop giving him a hard time. He’s just drunk. But you can’t be outside, so just shut him up._

“Dude, shut the fuck up! It’s late and we should be sleeping by now. Or at least in our rooms!”

“Ohh, relaaax! Didn’t you say that to me? ‘Relaaax’? Hmmmm?” Armin turned, starting to walk backwards and almost falling on his butt in every step. “Yoou are a bastard, you know. _You_ called me Barbie!” Jean saw his thin index finger lingering in front of his own face.

“I didn’t.” He lowered the finger, doing his best not to hold those soft fingers on his own.

“Fine, you didn’t. Buuut you _laughed_!”

The way he said it was so funny Jean had to contain a laugh. He almost moaned the “but”, barely said the “you” and the “laughed” came as the most outraged squeak Jean had ever heard, along with a random shake of his head.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, I swear. I just came out, okay? Now stop shouting and get in the room.” Jean opened the door, giving Armin a small shove to get in as fast as possible.

Obviously, the intoxicated Armin couldn’t handle it and fell on his butt. Jean would have thought it was funny, but he was so done with drunk Armin and his adventures he just helped the guy get up by putting his right arm under Armin’s left.

“I told you to start with a beer.”

“No you didn’t!”

“Well, I tried, but you didn’t give me a chance.” He laughed, remembering his shock.

“Yeah, right!”

Jean was doing his best to keep Armin up when he felt the blond’s hot breath on his neck. He froze for a few seconds, feeling his heart nearly rip through his shirt and all the blood from his body flow to his face.

“Ahm... Armin...” He started, in a low voice but he wasn’t sure the other had heard.

Suddenly, Armin’s right arm flew to his neck, making the blond get even closer to his body. He felt the other smelling the area and all the blood from his face traveled to his groin.

_Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. This is NOT the time for this._

“Armin, wh-what are you doing?”

He heard a small groan from the boy before his body got even heavier. He had passed out. Jean was honestly glad he did because Armin was driving him insane. He laid the blond on the bed and released himself from his embrace.

For a few minutes he stood there, confused, thinking about what had happened. This wasn’t a normal behavior. Guys don’t just smell each other because they are drunk. Do they? His straight friends have been drunk several times in front of him, but never did something like this.

_Stop this. You’re just trying to make him gay so you can pretend you have a shot. Give it up, man._

He changed his clothes and stood before Armin, looking at him. He squatted, taking the hair away from the blond’s face and brushed his thumb against the his cheek. For a second he honestly thought about kissing those lips.

_You are the worst. How can you even think about this? This is not okay. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a kiss! Get away from him right now._

He stepped away, rubbing his hands on his face. He got into the top bed from the bunk bed they shared and laid there, staring at the ceiling. He could feel the blond’s presence under his bed and his feelings still made his body physically ache.

_God, please, make it stop. I can’t handle this anymore. I’m begging you, please just make this feeling go away. You know I’m not behaving like this out of pure lust. You know how much I love him. You know this isn’t just a crush. I’ve been in love before, but I never felt this way. I know this is love, and you know it too. He’ll never feel the same way, and I accept that if you just make me not love him anymore._

Jean sighed and turned to his side, trying to sleep. He was glad Saturday was just starting because he certainly wouldn’t be able to get up early and go to class after spending half the night thinking about the blond that laid under his bed, unaware of his feelings.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean is a sweetheart.

Jean woke up at 11:26AM. Armin was still passed out from the night before. He decided to go to the drug store and buy some aspirin, knowing what it was like to fight a hangover. He got dressed, took his phone and wallet from the desk and went out.

On his way to the drugstore he was wondering what he could do to make Armin’s day less miserable. After buying the medicine, the idea came to his mind. The thing he always did when he drank way too much the previous night: Animal Crossing.

He came back to their dorm and took his 3DS from his bag. It was out of battery, so Jean plugged it in and made a new save file. He didn’t do it with his character, but he made sure to use cheats to make Armin’s character adorable. Just like he was in real life. He even went to the hair saloon and changed his hair to blond. Still, it wasn’t the perfect color Armin had.

He forward the time on the game so Armin would have a house and changed the character’s eyes to blue. But once again, the color couldn’t hold a candle to the original. He logged out and logged in with his own character. All his utensils were golden, which means they were the best you could have. But he didn’t care. Armin could have them all. He left them in front of the boy’s house along with some money and logged out.

This took about one hour, including his breaks to think about Armin’s perfect features. By the time he was done, the blond was groaning, and sitting on the bed. He put the device on his bag but left it charging.

“Hey, g’mornin’, sunshine.” He said, as low as possible and hurried to close the curtains.

The game had taken all the time he had to prepare the room. He hurried to get the trashcan he knew Armin would need soon.

“Here. You should keep this by your bed.” He placed it by Armin’s bed, trying to find best spot.

“...Why?” He finally asked, his voice a little hoarse.

“You’ll see.” Jean chuckled. “Anyway, you should stay in bed for today. Here’s some aspirin.”

He gave the medicine to Armin and noticed. The water. He had forgotten to change the warm water with a fresh, cold one.

_Damn you, Animal Crossing._

“Thank you. Urgh, I feel horrible... I feel like-”

Before Armin could finish he threw himself off the bed and hunched over the bucket. Jean noticed the curtain his hair had created and quickly held it so it wouldn’t get dirty — His hair was as soft as he'd imagined — After a few minutes, Armin got up and walked to the bathroom. Jean knew he was really bad, and felt sorry for him.

The brunet decided to wait for the other to see if he still felt nauseous before he could clean the trashcan, so he sat on his chair by his desk, staring at the ceiling. Armin would probably want to eat. He must be hungry. It was almost 1PM.

“T-Thank you for... You know...” Armin got out of the bathroom, scratching his neck, leaving red marks on his delicate skin.

“No problem. Do you still feel sick?” Jean stood up.

“No, I don’t think so.” He lowered his head like he always did when he was embarrassed.

“Okay then. Just lay down, I’ll go wash this.” He decided to pretend it was no big deal for Armin’s sake. He took the trashcan and started to leave the room.

“NO!” Armin shouted and it seemed to have made his head explode inside because he closed his eyes with a painful expression. “Please, let me do it!!! Y-You don’t have to...”

He opened his eyes once again, slowly, still looking like he was in pain.

“It’s fine, just go lay down.”

Jean got out and thought about where he’d wash it. He decided to wash it in the showers — Galdly they were empty — and even though he was careful to throw the contents straight into the drain every time, he decided to let the water flow for a while longer. No one wants to take a shower in a place where someone threw up.

When he got back to the room, Armin was sitting on his bed, using his pillow as a cushion to lay against the headboard. He put the trashcan back to it’s place and took his 3DS from his bag, removing the cable and handed it to the blond.

“Here. This is a 3DS. I took the liberty of making a new character for you in this game. It’s called __Animal Crossing: New Leaf_ _ , but I call it my ‘Hangover Game’.” He chuckled. “You can fish, catch bugs, talk to cute animals. It’s great.”

The little bastard had the guts to raise an eyebrow, making the most skeptical expression possible. But Jean could let it go because he knew Armin would end up liking the game.

“I left everything you need in front of your house, and a bunch of money. I’m have to go out now, but I’ll be back soon. Do you need anything?”

It was a lie. He didn’t need to go out, but Armin would be embarrassed to let him go if he knew he was leaving just for his sake.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.” Armin tried to smile.

“Do you want me to bring you something to eat?”

His painful expression disappeared at that very moment and his eyes widened.

“I want Mc Donald’s.” He said, straightening up on his bed and Jean could fully see his blue irises shimmering.

“...Okaaay... Do you want the whole Mc Donald’s?” He laughed thinking about how Armin’s excitement took his mind away from the main point. “I don’t think I can bring you the whole shop, so why don’t you tell me what do you want from there?”

“What do they have?”

Jean was in shock. How could someone not know what do they have on Mc Donald’s? And then he remembered _who_ he was talking to.

“...Please don’t tell me there was no Mc Donald’s in your town.” He honestly didn’t even want to hear the answer.

“Even if there were, there’s no way my grandfather would let me eat it.”

Armin smiled, but not his usual smile. It was weak, like a prisoner in a cell trying to pretend everything was fine.

“They...” He wasn’t happy. He felt sorry for Armin. He had never experienced things Jean thought were normal. “They have a billion types of burgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, ice cream...”

“Okay, hm... I want...”

At least the adorable sight of Armin putting his bent index finger in front of his mouth while thinking made Jean a little happier.

“Just forget it. I’ll bring you everything.” He got out and started to think what would suit Armin’s taste.

On the way he tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up like Armin did. He didn’t like the idea but... That kind of raising had made Armin who he was. The Armin Jean loved more than anything. He decided to give up on the thought when he noticed he had reached the shop and his head was hurting.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Jean spend a few seconds to open the door carrying all he food and drinks, but it was fine. Armin _had_ to like at least _one_ of those.

“I brought you everything you could wish for.” He got into the room, putting his wallet and phone on the desk, sitting on the bed in front of Armin.

“Wow, this is huge.” The blond took his blanket and Jean was _not_ ready for that sight.

Armin had taken of the cardigan and pants he was wearing and was sitting there in nothing but a tank top and checkered boxers. He was shy, and summer was far away so Jean had never seen his arms or legs without any clothes on. They were perfect. Just like the rest of him. He looked amazing and Jean wished he’d walk around in that outfit all day, everyday.

“...Yeah.” He replied automatically, not even knowing what he was agreeing to.

“Can I open it?” Armin sat on his ankles and Jean could see a small part of his perfect thighs. He was extremely tempted but, at least this time, he had heard what the other had said.

“Uh? Wha-Yeah! Sure!” He quickly gave the blond the bag, trying to think about anything that could stop his body from reacting. “I... I also brought you chocolate sundae and a Coke.”

“You brought me Coke? Oh, you’re the best!” Armin was so happy he laughed, and bounced on the bed for a second.

He started to take out the small packages from the bag and, this time, it wasn’t Jean’s hormones talking. It was his heart. Armin was happy, smiling, laughing because of him. He had made him happy and he felt so good and light he feared he might start floating.

“Y-Yeah... I did.” He decided to distribute the items, trying to contain his stupid smile. "Leave the fries. We can eat straight from the bag. Here’s your burger. I brought a regular hamburger because I honestly don’t know what this amount of junk food will do to your body.” He ended up laughing, mostly because he was so happy.

“Good idea.” The other replied, laughing once again.

And then Jean saw the sight that might have been heaven, but in that situation it was actually hell. Armin stared at his sandwich for a while, examining it, and took a big bite. His eyes widened, and he moaned loudly, throwing himself on the bed, bending his legs up.

Jean didn’t even have time to stop himself from staring at the perfect bottom in front of him. When he could see a hint of _something else_ inside those large boxers he knew he was done for.

_Why? WHY did you have to react like this? Why did you have to moan? Why are you so, SO sexy without even making an effort???_

There was nothing on earth Jean could think about that would make him _or_ his body forget that sight. He was so grateful Armin had a small cushion on his bed which he didn’t hesitate to use to hide the _evidence_ of his insane lust for the blond.

Armin returned to his previous position and tried out some french fries. He moaned again.

_ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? STOP. MOANING!!!_

Until that moment Jean never thought it was possible to want to die, touch himself, and cry at the same time.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”

_Don’t say “You should try my dick.”. Don’t say “You should try my dick.”. Don’t say “You should try my dick.”. Don’t say “You should try my dick.”..._

Armin continued to happily taste everything Jean had brought until he looked at the brunet’s expression and for a second and stared at the cushion on his lap.

 _He knows. He knows!!! Why are you doing this to me, God??? This is_ torture _!_

“W-What’s wrong?” Armin was blushing. Jean was sure he knew.

“N-Nothing.” Jean’s voice came out extremely thin. He didn’t know if it was because Armin turned him on so much he forgot how to talk or because he was _crushing_ his poor genitals with that cushion, trying to pretend nothing was happening under it. “N-Nothing!”

He tried again, managing to let out a thicker voice. He took a bite of his burger and looked down at the food in front of them, not wanting to make eye contact with the other.

The room was quiet for a while and Jean was feeling extremely uncomfortable with the horrible mood he’d caused. So he remembered the game he’d spent one hour preparing.

“So, how’s the game?”

“It sucks!!!” Armin was really angry. “This adorable animals are trying to rip me off! I bought a table at the store for two thousand bucks and this cute little elephant wanted to buy it from me for eight hundred!!!”

“Oh, yeah. They can be dicks sometimes.” Jean couldn’t _not_ laugh at Armin’s indignation with such an adorable game. “So, did you refuse?”

“Of course not. It was an adorable white elephant.” The blond turned his head to the side, pouting a little and almost not opening his mouth to say it.

“Oh my God. You’re such a sweetheart.” He said that from the bottom of his loving heart.

“Shut up!”

Armin laughed and threw a french fry in his direction. Jean instinctively moved his head to the side and caught it with his mouth. They both were so surprised they just stared at each other until Armin shouted.

“How did you do that???”

“Man, I’m awesome.” Armin didn’t need to know it was pure luck. He probably already did, though.

“Oh, and by the way, can you explain to me why the cute little elephant was wearing a shirt that said: _Jean sucks d_... Hm... D. I. C. K.?”

_Look at this. He’s so sweet he won’t even say "dick"... Wait, what?_

“WHAT???” He shouted, taking the 3DS in his hands. He went to the clothing shop and it was there. A black shirt with huge rainbow-colored letters that clearly said “Jean sucks dick”.

“That asshole.”

He knew who had done it. The only bastartd with access to his things. He got up from the bed, taking his phone from the desk and calling Marco. Armin opened his mouth to say something but Jean stopped him by raising one finger. He just _had_ to scream in Marco’s ear.

“MARCO, YOU LITTLE SHIT, I KNOW ABOUT THE SHIRT YOU MADE ON MY ANIMAL CROSSING!!!”

“Wow, took you a long time, huh? Did you like it?” He could hear Marco trying not to laugh.

“... Il mio compagno di stanza l’ha vista.” [My roommate saw it.]

“Oh... That’s... Wait, he doesn’t know you’re gay?”

“Of course not, you little shit.” Jean’s eyes wondered to Armin for a second.

“Oh man. I’m sorry.” He wasn’t. And Jean knew it.

“Yeah, you better feel sorry. I’m getting my revenge, you fuck.” And he hung up. He was sure Marco was probably laughing his ass of right now.

“Why did you hang up on him like that?” Armin shouted, outraged.

“What?” Jean raised his head, not knowing why he was so angry.

“Marco! He’s probably feeling horrible now.”

“No, he’s not. He knows I’m not mad.” Jean didn’t understand why Marco would think he was mad.

“You’re not?”

“No!” Jean’s eyes widened. He never realized how his relationship with Marco would look like for outsiders. “Do I look mad?”

“Of course you do!”

“Well... I’m not, really. He knows it’s a joke. Relax.” He tried to calm Armin down.

“I didn’t know you could speak another language.” The blond suddenly changed the subject, so Jean decided to just go with the flow.

“Marco’s family is Italian and since we basically grew up together they ended up teaching me some."

“That’s so cool! Do you know any other language?”

“H-Hm... I know French, because of my mother. My father is German, but he didn’t teach me a lot so I can only say a few words and expressions.”

“Wow, you’re awesome.”

Armin was so fascinated he even approached his head. Once again Jean could clearly see he was thinking about a million things again. For a few moments he let him, but Jean started to feel embarrassed, — Specially because he knew he wasn't nowhere near awesome — so he decided to take him out of that state.

“Armin, wake up.” He said, as he started to gather the empty packages.

“Oh, sorry.” Armin shook his head to get out of the trance and started to help Jean.

“You brain never stops working, does it?” Jean chuckled when he realized this was one of the reasons he loved Armin. He took the bag and decided it would be best to throw it on the dumpster.

“Oh, wait! How much do I own you for the food?”

“Relax, man. Consider it a gift.” He smiled and got out.

After he closed the door he laid back on it, sighing.

_Today it was Mc Donald’s but I’d give you the moon if you wanted. I’d give you anything just to make you happy._

He threw the trash out and came back to see Marco’s figure in front of his room, not far away from Jean’s. He was waiting for him. He walked to the freckled boy, giving him a strong hug.

“Get in.” Marco dragged Jean into his room, without letting him go. “Did you tell him?”

“No...”

“Did something happen?”

“Yes...”

“What happened?”

Jean hid his face on Marco’s shoulder.

“...He came into my life.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean is so cheesy you could make a large pizza.

Jean had set the alarm on his phone to ring ten minutes before Armin’s clock. He put it under his pillow, so it wouldn’t wake up the other and it worked. He climbed down from his bed and turned the blond’s alarm clock off. Everything was moving according to plan. At least so far. 

He’d planned their whole day. Every single moment was perfectly arranged. He even called his friend, Thomas Wagner to confirm his appointment at the aquarium. Thomas’ family and Jean’s have known each other for generations and Thomas’ father owned the place. So Jean asked for a few special requests like one extra hour on the beluga whale’s show. 

He got back to sleep but still woke up earlier than Armin. Maybe he was too excited. Or maybe Armin was starting to become a city boy after all.

He laid on his bed, playing with his phone until he heard a loud banging sound coming from the bed underneath. He probably realized Armin had hit his head because the bed shook a little. He knelt and hanged his upper body from the edge to see if the boy was fine.

“Hey, man! Are you okay?”

“Argh... Yes! But I’m late!!!” He got up, running around trying to get everything he needed.

“No you’re not.” 

Jean jumped from his bed straight to the floor and got his first present from his bag. He put his hand on Armin’s shoulder to stop him, and it worked even though the other was still very unsettled.

“Relax, Armin. You’re not late.”

“Of course I am!!! It’s 10AM!!!” He had raised his tone like it would make Jean comprehend what he was saying.

“You’re not late because we’re not going to class today. I was the one who turned off your alarm.”

“YOU DID WHAT???” He could see Armin forming a fist on his left hand.

“Will you calm down? What day is today?” Jean tried to calm him down. 

“What are you talking about???” Armin had an exhausted and angry expression.

“What. Day. Is. Today?” 

He saw Armin look at the calendar on top of his desk.

“It’s... It’s my birthday?” He asked.

“Exactly.” Jean took the opportunity to hand him his gift.

“Oh... Jean, thank you...” He lowered his head, looked at the package and raised his head once again to look at Jean. “Can I open it?”

“Of course!” 

He opened the package without ripping the paper and Jean nearly laughed. “Who does that?”, he thought.

“Oh, Jean, you shouldn’t have!”

Jean expected to see his smile, but he could never expect what came next. Armin hugged him, and he, obviously, didn’t waste a second to hug him back. He put his hands on the blond’s back, feeling his muscles as much as he could without moving his hands. He could also smell his hair and he knew the feeling of that hug would stay with him for the rest of his life.

“Still, you shouldn’t have let me skip classes.” He let go and Jean thought about not letting him do so.

“I did it because we’re going to a special place.” He explained, remembering they still had a long they ahead of them.

“Oh? And where would that be?” The blond sat on the bed, opening the box and staring at his new phone. 

“Have you ever gone to an aquarium?”

Armin turned his head to face Jean at the very second the “um” had been pronounced and accidentally dropped his phone on the soft bed. His eyes were shimmering and his mouth slightly open.

“A-Are you serious?”

“ Yes. Actually I was about to wake you up so we could-” 

In what seemed to be ten seconds later, Armin was ready. Jean barely had time to react before he was listening to “Come ooooon!!!”s from the other boy. He dressed up, trying not to take too long and they went out together. 

  
  


\---------------------------------

  
  


Jean spent the whole time they were on the bus watching Armin and his phone that, apparently, had taken control of his soul. Like he did when he was writing, the blond had the tip of his tongue sticking out and Jean couldn't stop himself from thinking it was adorable. He was so entertained Jean had to give him a small pat on the arm so Armin would get off the bus. He looked at Jean with a guilty expression and put his phone away. 

They got in after buying their tickets and the entrance was a huge aquarium in the shape of a tunnel. Armin stood there and Jean could see the blond’s eyes shimmering. The boy too k about ten minutes to come back to the real world and apologized immediately.

“I-I’m sorry. I just... Sorry to make you wait.”

“It’s fine.” He laughed. “It’s your day. You can take your time.” Jean was fine just watching him anyway. 

Then Jean heard about fishes. For forty five minutes. He loved Armin with all his heart but damn those fishes were boring. When he was done, they walked to the end of the tunnel to find the penguins. And once again Armin’s “Encyclopedia Mode” was turned on . At least the penguins were interesting.

“So, there, you see that one??? With the yellow thingy on his head? It’s a Macaroni Penguin! You see there’s two, and one is smaller? The small one is probably a female! They are usually smaller in comparison-...” 

Jean checked his wristwatch. He was entertained by Armin’s explanations, but he had a schedule and it couldn’t be postponed. So he started to calculate how long he could let Armin talk.

“S-Sorry, I got carried away. Please tell me when I do, I just start talking and...” He sounded hurt and Jean felt his heart ache as he raised his head and saw Armin’s expression.

“What?” N-No! No, that’s not it! Sorry! I swear I was listening! Hm... Macaroni Penguins, yellow thingys on their heads, females smaller than males. See? I was listening, I swear! It’s interesting!” He did his best to assure Armin he loved listening to him, including smiling a bit.

He saw Armin smile and bite his lower lip while he turned back to the penguins. Even though he surely didn’t mean to, Jean thought the act was really sexy. But this wasn’t the time for this, so he just contained his idiotic smile. 

  
\---------------------------------

  
  


Jean pretended to be walking around aimlessly and guided Armin to the place where the manatees were. As expected, Armin was instantly excited and got close to the glass, smiling. 

_ Argh, I wish I could bring you here everyday just to see you smile like that.  _

Jean got close, looking at the giant animal swimming around. His heart melted when he looked in their direction and Armin actually  _ waved _ .

“Hi sweetie!”

He even talked to the animal that couldn’t even hear them.  Jean knew he’d never stop loving this guy even if they were never together.

“Oh! Look, look, he’s coming this way!!!” 

He grabbed Jean’s right hand with those soft cold fingers and the brunet tried to to the same, but his hand was being crushed. He was shocked to realize he didn’t care that his fingers’ blood circulation was being cut. This blond nerd obsessed with animals could probably walk all over him and he’d allow it. 

Jean’s realization of his foolishness was interrupted by the poor animal hitting the glass, making his face flatten. 

“Oh, baby! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” He could see Armin was genuinely guilty, even though he was laughing.

“What a dork.” Jean had to chuckle at the ridiculous sight, specially with Armin’s apology.

“Stop it! He’s not!” 

Armin slapped him on the arm but didn’t stop laughing. Jean checked his wristwatch again and it was almost time for their appointment. 

“Hey, look, we can walk around more later but... I kinda got another present for you.”

“W-What?” Armin’s expression dropped, turning into a guilty one. “No, Jean, come on! You’ve given me so much already...”

“ No, no, I  _ really  _ wanna give you this, come on!” 

He didn’t lose the opportunity to hold Armin’s hand like he’d intended to. It felt so good he wished they’d never arrive at their destination. 

When they were getting closer Jean knew the signs and would spoil the surprise, so he told Armin to close his eyes.  He walked up to the employee and identified himself, leaving Armin a little far behind, coming back for him later. He guided the blond into the room and the worker already knew the deal. Jean had asked Thomas to be sure no one would say a word so Armin would be really surprised.

They got in and Jean took the swimsuit that was given to them and told Armin to open his eyes.

“I think you should wear this.”

Armin opened them and lowered his eyes to the swimsuit in Jean’s hand. He started to shake a little.

“Are we... Are we going to swim... With an animal?”

“Maaaaybe...” Jean rolled his eyes, provoking him.

“Jean Kirstein, if you’re messing with me I’ll kill you!!!” Armin started to shake really hard.

“ I’m not!!!”  He was having so much fun with the sight of Armin starting to freak out.  “Just put the fucking clothes on, you idiot.”

They changed and Jean covered Armin’s eyes. He was sure Armin would open them if given the chance and he’d done so much until now, he wouldn’t allow the surprise to be spoiled. They got into the room and the instructor was already inside the tank with a beautiful beluga whale. He gave Jean a positive sign and the boy took his hands off Armin’s eyes.

The blond opened his eyes, blinking once or twice before widening his eyes like no one has ever done and  _ shouting _ .

“IT’S A BELUGA!!!” He instantly noticed he’d startled everyone  — Including the beluga  — and his cheeks gained color instantly. “I-I’m sorry! I-I’m really sorry!” 

He looked at the animal once more and he was so excited he knelt and actually hid his face, probably crying a bit. Jean squatted beside him immediately, putting a hand on his back. He’d brought Armin here so he could make him happy and see his smile, not his tears (Even if they were tears of happiness.).

“Why are you crying???” He still laughed, because the scene was actually funny, specially with the weird and slightly scared looks the workers gave the boy “Isn’t this your favorite animal?”

“ Y-Yes!!! Yes it is!!! Thank you!!! Thank you so much!!!” 

Jean never expected Armin to grab his face and kiss him on the cheeks, much less three times. The boy hurried to the tank and Jean fell on his butt, shocked and feeling like he was in heaven. He had to be woken up by Armin calling him closer.

“Ohhh, Jean! Jean, come here, touch him!!! Oh, baby, you’re so pretty and  _ _ wet _ _ !!!” 

Jean got in while Armin was talking to the beluga and he touched it almost automatically. His heart was still beating extremely fast and he barely heard the instructor’s speech. 

When the two hours a normal interaction would take were over and the beluga had thrown water at Armin face for the second time, the boy asked if he could swim with it. The instructor gave Jean a look, like he was asking if it was safe to let that crazy guy swim with the innocent animal. Jean nodded, confirming Armin’s sanity and the boy pulled Jean to swim with them after a few minutes. 

Jean had never swam with those animals, but he knew them and had interacted with them as a kid, so he didn’t really mind letting Armin enjoy it more than he did. First of all, today was about Armin. He’d done all of that for  _ him _ . _He_ was the one who loved that animal more than anything. It was _his_ dream to meet one in person. He was kind and he deserved it. 

Second, Jean had always had access to this kind of stuff. The blond had grown up in a place where there wasn’t even that much information about those creatures. He probably didn’t even dream about meeting one in person, at least not until he could find a job in the area after graduating. Jean wanted to be the one to give him that chance. He knew this wouldn’t make Armin love him, but this wasn’t the point  here. All he wanted was to give it to someone he who'd appreciate it.

Jean spent so much time looking at Armin and thinking about him that the hour was over in the blink of an eye. The blond hugged the beluga, saying good-bye to it like he was a close relative leaving forever. They got out and showered in the facilities, heading back to the dorm. 

Every time Armin tried talking to him, he’d remember how those pretty lips were on his cheeks earlier. Jean didn’t really care for kisses on the cheek, but he could spend the rest of his days receiving those and he’d be a happy man. 

When they got into the room, Armin span around, turning to Jean with the brightest smile on his face.

“So... Did you like it?” He knew the answer, but he needed to hear it. 

“So much... Jean, so much... I...” He suddenly grabbed Jean’s hands, holding them close to his chest and the brunet forgot how to breath. “I won’t ever be able to repay you. It must’ve been so expensive, I’ll... I’ll try to pay you back, I promise! I... Thank you so much!”

“ You don’t have to. I told you, it’s your birthday. I don’t want anything back, I just... Wanted to see you happy.”  Those words came in the most honest form, from the bottom of his heart. 

Then, the strangest thing happened. Armin started to look at him in a different way. Jean knew it was impossible but... It seemed like Armin was in  _ love _ with him. 

They were getting closer by the second and Jean’s heart felt like it was about to burst out of his body. But then there were loud bangs on the door. 

_ Noooo... WHY now? Why? I was so close... So close... To what exactly? Was he really going to kiss me? There’s no way, right? _

Jean let out a loud sigh and scratched his head while Armin opened the door revealing their friends with a cake singing him happy birthday. Marco stood in the back and gave Jean a look that the boy understood at the same time. He’d tried to stop them. Jean joined the chorus, trying to pretend nothing was about to happen inside that room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaargh! I'm so frustrated about this chapter. ｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡  
> I'm sorry, guys! I hope you hang on to this story! I'll do my best to make the next one better! orz


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean stops loving Armin (For a moment).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first time I've written Jean's POV before Armin's. I thought it would be more interesting to read it this way. (Obviously no one needs to follow my order. You can wait to read Armin's POV first, np!)  
> I hope you guys enjoy!

Jean was making sure he’d got everything he’d nee for this trip. He could clearly remember the moment Armin had asked him what his plans for Thanksgiving were.

 

_Jean got into the room to find Armin speaking on his new phone. He smiled a bit at that. He was definitely enjoying the present._

“ _Yes, yes, of course. Call me when you get there and we’ll hang out. Okay. Okay, bye!”_

“ _Going somewhere?” Jean teased._

“ _Oh! Hi, Jean! Actually it was a friend from my hometown. Thanksgiving is coming up and we’re hoping to meet.”_

“ _Oh, you’re going back?”_

“ _Well... Yes. Aren’t you?” He chuckled._

“ _Not really.” Jean shrugged, putting his backpack on the floor and his phone and wallet on the desk. “My parents won’t be home anyway, so I don’t really have a reason to make the trip.”_

“ _Where will they be?” Armin seemed concerned._

“ _Working.”_

“ _Oh... I see...”_

“ _Relax, it’s fine.” Jean laughed. “God, it’s like I just told you somebody died.”_

“ _I’m sorry! I’m just... Used to being with my family on Thanksgiving and...” He tried to apologize, shaking his hands in front of him._

“ _It’s fine. I’m used to it.” Jean really didn’t mind it that much at this point._

_They were quiet for a few minutes before Armin got closer with his fingers entwined and his palms facing up. He stood there, opening his mouth one or two times before he could say it._

“ _I don’t know if you have any interest, but... I-If you want to, you could... Go to my place.”_

_Jean tuned to look at him, intrigued._

“ _You mean... To your hometown?”_

“ _I know, it’s a horrible idea, I’m sorry I asked.”_

“ _No! Actually... It might be fun.” He smiled._

“ _It’s... It’s really not.” He laughed. “I mean, not ‘city fun’. More like ‘country fun’.”_

“ _What’s ‘country fun’?” Jean chuckled._

“ _You’ll see if you come!”_

“ _Okay then. I’m going.”_

 

Armin had finished packing and Jean had charged all his electronic devices. The blond had warned him the trip would be long. They got everything and left, walking to the closest bus stop.

Jean had never been in a town as small as Armin’s hometown, but he was excited to know about that place. All he knew was that it had... Nothing. No Mc Donald’s, no Starbucks, no movie theater, nothing. He wondered what the “country fun” the other had mentioned was all about.

They took the bus from their dorm to the station and got on another bus. Jean didn’t ask how long was the trip. Armin had only told him they’d have to get up early and spend many hours on the bus. He guessed it would be about four or five hours. No big deal. He had a 3DS, a laptop and a cellphone fully charged. He wouldn't even see the time pass.

First, they watched a movie on his laptop, sharing one earphone. Then, Armin played on his phone until his battery was almost gone — Obviously he let the perfect amount for an emergency — and Jean played on his 3DS. They exchanged activities when Jean was tired of the game and Armin wanted to play it.

Without barely noticing, four hours had passed. Armin let go of the 3DS to sleep and Jean was hoping they’d get there soon. He waited for another hour before he fell asleep.

When he woke up again, they were on a creepy dirt road, with absolutely nothing but their bus and woods. Jean rubbed his eyes, trying to see something but there was nothing. He was sure of what was happening so he shook Armin, who barely woke up.

“Armin, wake up.” He whispered as low as he could.

“What?” He didn’t even open his eyes.

“I think the bus is getting kidnapped.”

“...What?” Armin sat straight, rubbing his eyes and turning to Jean.

“Shh, pretend you’re still asleep. Look, we’re on a dirt road. There’s no one else but us and the trees. And this trip is probably taking much longer than usual.”

Armin nearly laid on top of Jean to get closer to the window and sighed, revealing a tired expression.

“This is the right road, Jean. And we’re not taking longer than usual.” He got back to his seat.

“Are you serious? Where the fuck do you live? How long is this trip gonna take?”

Armin checked Jean’s wristwatch.

“We’ve been here for about six and a half hours. There’s another three and a half to go.”

He got back to his fetal position, facing the opposite way and tried to get back to sleep. Jean nearly cried when he said those words. Three more hours to go. He wanted to get up, stretch his legs, breath an air that wasn’t... Bus air. He wondered what kind of mess he’d gotten himself into.

After those almost four hours — Three hours, forty five minutes, actually. — the boys finally got of the bus. Jean stretched so much it was like he was at the gym.

“Gooooooood, this was booooriing...”

“I told you it would take many hours.” Armin laughed, starting to walk away from the bus.

“Hey, I thought you said there were no Mc Donald’s at your hometown.”

“There aren’t.” Armin was looking around for something.

“And what’s that?”

Jean raised an eyebrow, point to a Mc Donald’s really close to them. Armin hid both his lips between his teeth like he was trying not to laugh _and_ trying to figure out how to say something.

“...What is it?” Part of Jean didn’t even want to know what that look was for.

“This is not my hometown.”

“...I’m sorry, what?” Jean was sure he’d gotten crazy from that long trip.

“You see that white van over there?” He pointed at said van “It’s going to take us to my hometown.”

“... Oh my God, you’re going to murder me in that van, aren’t you?”

“You’d probably prefer if I did.” He laughed.

“No, no noooooooooo... Don’t say that.” Jean whined and covered his eyes with his palms, taking a deep breath, trying not to cry. “How long is this going to take?”

“...About two or three hours.”

Jean let out the most painful groan and let his arms fall to the sides of his body.

“Kill me. Please kill me in that van. I’m begging you.”

Armin was laughing really hard, and it was the first time Jean _wasn’t_ in love with him.

 

\---------------------------------

 

The second trip took only two hours and ten minutes, but Jean was _broken_. The van was really uncomfortable and he was so done with roads. He’d probably learn how to fly just to go back to their dorm. Armin got out, happily thanking the driver and shutting the van’s door.

“Ready to go?” He asked, not even looking tired.

“Are you going to tell me we have to get a cab now?”

“No!” Armin laughed. “There are no cabs here. We’ll walk.”

“... You want me to walk? After spending twelve and a half hours on buses and vans?”

Jean was sure being tempted by Armin would not be a problem anymore because he was about to murder the boy.

“Relax, it’s really close, I swear!” Armin was having too much fun with this. He was _definitely_ going to get killed in his sleep tonight.

After one or two minutes of silence, Jean decided to break the ice (before his crime).

“Do you know that guy?”

“The driver? He lives here. He takes everyone back and forth when they need to go the city for some reason.”

You didn’t answer my question.” He pointed out.

“... How come? I just said he lives here.”

“So, do you know everyone in this town?” He laughed.

“Well... Yes.” Armin looked so puzzled by his questioning.

“... Holy shit.” Jean didn’t even was too tired for this. He wondered how small this town could be.

The answer came when, after ten minutes, they arrived at Armin’s house. The town had a large street and a few smaller perpendicular ones. And nothing else.

It was nighttime when they arrived and there was no one on the streets. Not even the lights were on inside the houses, even though it was only 9:30PM. Jean would never admit, but he was slightly scared having only half a dozen streetlights to guide his way. He was happy to see that at least the light’s on Armin’s house were on.

The blond walked up the small stairs that lead to the porch and knocked on the door. He was received by an old man with a soft expression. He had white hair and a full beard. He opened his arms and Armin hugged him being squeezed back in return.

“My boy! Welcome home!” He said in the sweetest way, lightly rocking Armin from one side to another.

“Hello, grandfather.” He smiled softly.

“How are you doing? Do you want to eat? You must be starving! Who’s your friend?”

He didn’t even give Armin time to answer before shooting another question. Jean guessed it was just a rhetorical question, and he’d give them food even if they weren’t hungry. Which Jean was. A lot. So much his stomach growled.

“This is Jean Kirstein. He’s my roommate.”

“And why aren’t you with your parents on Thanksgiving, my boy?”

“Grandfather!” Armin lowered his head as he always did when he was embarrassed.

“My parents are working, sir.” He answered, even though he didn’t feel so comfortable.

“Working? Instead of being with their children on Thanksgiving? That’s not right! Well, you can stay here and enjoy it with us instead, my boy. Come in, come in.”

_Wow. Rude much, old man?_

Armin still had his head low when his grandfather got into the house followed by Jean. He held Jean’s arm and whispered the shyest “I’m sorry” anyone has ever heard. Jean smiled, putting his hand on Armin’s.

“Relax, it’s fine. I’ve heard worse.”

He lied to make the other feel better and it worked. The blond slowly raised his head, taking his hand off Jean's arm and walking into the house.

The three of them had dinner, and Armin’s grandfather was the most confusing creature in Jean's eyes. He was such a loving old man, proud of his grandson in one moment and would suddenly say the rudest or most ignorant sentence and just move on like nothing happened. Every time he did, Jean could see Armin’s head lowering and his body trying to disappear into his chair by raising his shoulders.

After dinner the boys went to Armin’s room to sleep. His room was just like his town. Simple. There’s no better word to describe it. A trundle bed, a nightstand, a window, a closet and a desk. Nothing fancy, everything made out of the simplest of woods. This room could belong to anyone on earth if it wasn’t for a world map poster — All marked with a bunch of arrows in different colors to indicate the migratory route of probably every kind of whale on earth. — and the thing Jean noticed instantly when he got into the room: the smell.

The whole room smelled like Armin. In their dorm, Jean could only feel that scent when he laid on Armin’s bed, but here it was all over the place. It felt amazing.

The blond pulled the lower bed out of the trundle bed and got sheets, pillows and pillow cases from the closet, making the bed.

“I’ll sleep here, you can sleep in my bed.”

"Are you sure?”

"Of course! You're a guest!" He smiled kindly.

Jean put his backpack on the floor and got in the shower first, after the blond's insistence. Armin went next while Jean laid on the boy’s bed.

If the room had Armin’s scent it was nothing compared to the bed linen. It was mixed with softener, but it was definitely there. Jean couldn’t help himself and laid his head on the pillow, bringing the other side closer to his face. He was so tired and so comfortable being intoxicated by the scent he didn’t even realize he’d fallen asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make the trip to Armin's hometown a single chapter but I ended up writing more than I intended to. LOL!  
> The next one might be a little shorter because of it (if I don't get too excited about these two dorks.).  
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean can't catch a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, it's 3AM, my tendinitis is killing me and I'm still here writing about those two. Ugh! I just wanted to write this chapter for so looong!!!  
> I hope you guys like it!

 

Jean woke up the next day and saw Armin sleeping on the lower bed. It was almost 12:30PM. He looked at the view through the window and started to realize the country life wasn’t so bad after all. He had to admit sleeping in such a silent and peaceful place was really good and the view of the fields illuminated by the sun was no longer scary. It was incredible.

“Good morning...” He heard from the opposite side and turned to see Armin's eyes opened.

“Mornin’. He smiled.

“Are you hungry?” Armin was still lazy, so he asked from under his covers, still curled up in them, smiling.

“A little bit.”

“I’ll make you breakfast.”

He got up, stretched with a low moan and tied up his hair in a pony tail. Jean remembered the first time he’d seen that sexy nape, on their first day as roommates. Today he was actually in Armin’s room, and he couldn’t stop wondering what would it be like if they woke up everyday like this. Together.

He smiled like an idiot, thinking about waking up everyday and kissing Armin’s perfect ivory nape, but his smile was cut off by the boy of his dreams, standing at the door with one hand at the portal.

“Are you coming?” He was trying to hold back a laugh by biting his lower lip and Jean became embarrassed.

“Uh... Yeah, sure.” He got up and followed the boy.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Whatever you wanna make.”

“Well, I could make you a proper breakfast...” He started as they went down the stairs. “Or we could take advantage of the fact my grandfather isn’t home and I could make you a grilled cheese.”

Armin stopped and turned around with such a naughty look on his face Jean honestly thought “grilled cheese” was a countryside slang for “fucking” and that Armin would take him right there in the kitchen.

“Grilled kitchen sounds good.”

_Please be a slang for sex. Please be a slang for sex. I need to kiss this nape. It’s a matter of life and death at this point._

Armin went around the kitchen gathering all the ingredients. Jean had volunteered to help, but the boy had refused. Good for Jean who could just sit there watching his every move. Jean was sure God had heard his request for Armin to wear underwear everyday, because he was, once again, wearing only his boxer shorts and a tank top, exposing his rarely seen skin. Oh, how it drove Jean crazy.

After about five minutes Armin was done and brought the plates to the table.

“Sorry, we only have juice.” He took a jar from the fridge and put it on the table with two cups. “But! Wait a second!”

He smiled and ran upstairs, coming back a few moments later with a bunch of ketchup sachets.

“What the fuck is that?” Jean had to laugh at the sight.

“I’ve been saving them for when I came here. My grandfather would kill me if he knew I’m eating ketchup, specially inside his house.”

Armin laughed, having way too much fun with this and Jean thought it to be really cute. He made sure to enjoy the rule-breaking as much as Armin did. Specially the moment he got too excited during a conversation and slapped the table, hitting one half-full sachet and spilling it’s contains on Armin’s shirt.

They stared at each other and got up from the table, running to the sink so they could remove the stain as quickly as possible. Even knowing Armin was in trouble, both were still giggling like idiots. Jean’s laugh stopped only when he saw what he never thought he would be able to see. Armin was shirtless. It was hard for him to lean over the sink, so he just took his shirt off and Jean thought he might have a heart attack.

He couldn’t move, so he just stared at the boy in front of him appreciating every little part of his exposed skin. It was so fair Jean could see some of his blue veins, and his heart and body were about to go crazy to that beautiful sigh.

Armin turned to him and his smile faded, his face turning red. He lowered his head, stepping away from Jean.

“Um... Sorry, I’ll... I’ll go get a new one.” He walked off the kitchen and ran upstairs.

Jean would’ve stopped him, but he couldn’t. He pressed his lower body against the sink and washed his face, trying to calm down. He was sure he’d never survive these four days.

 

\---------------------------------

 

When it was about 1:20PM the boys left the house. Jean had pestered Armin to show him the “country fun” he’d talked about, so they took Armin’s bike and another one that belonged to his grandfather — By the state it was in it was probably unused for a long time — and went off to what would be “downtown”. Except it was nothing more than a part of the mains street with a bunch of small family shops.

Armin waked in a small ice cream shop — Jean was surprised they even had ice cream there — and they got on the line, looking at the old menu. There was a limited variety of flavors, so Jean picked it out easily, and so did Armin.

However, there was an old lady right in front of them that took _forever_ to pick her flavor, and when she finally did, she took out a small purse and started to slowly take a bunch of coins out of it, examining one by one to see their value. Jean was starting to get impatient and checking his wristwatch all the time.

“Jean, calm down.” Armin turned at him and whispered with the softest voice he could manage.

“But she’s taking forever!” He whispered back, not as low and calm as Armin.

“And why are you in a hurry?” He smiled, taking Jean off guard.

“I... We’re supposed to be having fun.”

“Are you unhappy being here with me, getting ice cream?” His tone didn’t change since the first whisper.

“N-No! I’m really enjoying it.” He hurried to clarify.

“Then why are you in a hurry? Enjoy the store. The view. The people. Relax.”

Armin was so calm and kind it was almost like a monk or something and Jean instantly relaxed. He did his best not to be angry at the old lady in front of them and used the time to talk to Armin. When he realized, the time had passed and it was their turn. Armin was right after all.

_Well, he’s always right, isn’t he? Little genius bastard._

 

\---------------------------------

 

After the delicious ice cream Jean enjoyed with all his might, the boys took the bike and started to get out of town. They rode them for about twenty minutes until a huge field with yellow flowers. Armin stopped and got off his bike, laying it on the margin between the road and the field. Jean followed him while he walked and realized he’d have to keep an eye on him, because his beautiful hair was almost the same color as the flowers.

Armin turned around and Jean suddenly saw the two little blue spots that were his eyes in the middle of all that yellow. If this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up ever again. The blond smiled and pulled Jean by the hand, guiding him to a tree nearby. He stood in front of it and turned to Jean once again.

“Sit here.” He pointed to the spot in front of him.

“Okay.” Jean quickly obeyed.

“Not like that!” Armin gave him a little slap on the shoulder and Jean got up again.

“What did I do wrong???”

_I sat. You can’t ‘sit wrong’. I’m not that stupid._

“You have to be gentle with the flowers.” He clarified, sitting delicately on his ankles in front of the tree.

“Geez, okay. Sorry, flowers.” Jean said ironically, but he understood why Armin had complained.

He sat as gently as he could, looking at Armin.

“Turn around.”

“But how are we gonna talk if I’m not looking at you?”

“Just do it.” He kept a smile at his face that made Jean trust him.

The brunet sat with his back turned to the other boy and they were silent for a moment. Jean remembered what Armin had said at the ice cream shop and tried to enjoy the view. It was really beautiful and he’d never been in a place like this before.

He was starting to get used to it when he felt the familiar feeling of Armin’s cold hands against his nape, sending a chill down his spine. The blond’s other hand gently touched his forehead and pulled him closer, making Jean lay down, and his head reach Armin’s tights. He could see the blond’s soft expression upside down and his cheeks and ears started to burn.

“Close your eyes.” Armin’s voice was so low and sweet Jean’s body obeyed without his mind’s consent.

He felt Armin’s porcelain fingers touching his temples and his whole body relaxed when the other started massaging it. He even felt a little dizzy from that much relaxation. After a few minutes, Jean was almost asleep when Armin started to massage his scalp, as gently as he did with his temples. It was one of the best feelings Jean had ever experienced.

“You see...” Armin started softly, and Jean could feel the end of Armin’s golden locks brushing against his face. “This is ‘country fun’. Spending time with the one’s you care about.”

Jean opened his eyes to find Armin’s face close to his. He thought about kissing him for a second before an unfamiliar voice called up Armin from far away.

“Eren.” Armin raised his head, looking around for the boy.

Eren. Armin’s childhood friend. Jean knew he was either cursed, or God was really mad at him for some reason because his goddamn friends had the _worse_ timing _ever_.

Armin pushed Jean up in a bit of a hurry, not as gently as he’d been so far. He quickly got up and waved at the boy.

Eren got close and Jean could see he was accompanied by a gorgeous girl. He got up and the introductions began.

“Eren, Mikasa, this is my roommate from college, Jean. Jean, these are my childhood friends Eren and Mikasa.” Armin was still a bit unsettled.

“Hey, nice to meet you.” Eren shook Jean’s hands. “Armin is a really good roommate, isn’t he?”

_Oh, you have no idea. He’s the best. The most perfect, kind, and delicious piece of a-... Hey. Hey! You’re losing focus. Answer him._

“Y-Yeah, he’s perfect.”

_...Geez, you’re so awkward even poor Armin’s blushing now._

“Um... And you’re... Mikasa, right?” Jean tried to change the subject seeing Eren raise an eyebrow.

“Yes. Please take care of Armin.” He answered quietly, without any change in her expression.

“I’ll... Do my best.”

The four of them sat there talking until the sun was setting painting the yellow field orange. They got back to their bikes and went home to prepare for dinner. 

 

\---------------------------------

 

The two families — Jean had found out Eren and Mikasa were siblings at that point. — ate their Thanksgiving dinner together, and because of Eren and Mikasa’s tardiness, it was postponed to the 28th. During dinner Jean started to realize everyone in that town was exactly like Armin’s grandfather. They were all fun and games until something that went against their beliefs — mostly church’s teachings — became the topic.

Jean never knew he’d ever consider his little friends parents — The ones who wouldn’t allow him to play with their kids — to be... Polite. These people were _not_ afraid to use the words “faggots”, “sin” and “die” in one single sentence. But what made Jean even angrier was the fact they put God’s name in the middle, like _he_ was condemning the so called “faggots”, or in this case, Jean himself.

His heart was divided in half. Part of him was happy Armin was there because it was the only thing at that table making him endure and not punch someone in the face. On the other hand, the poor boy looked miserable. Jean held his hand strongly under the table, letting go as soon as possible. He didn’t want him to get in trouble and much less because of him.

After what was probably the worst dinner of his life, Jean was walking home with Armin, who hadn’t said a word, or raised his head since the time they started eating. He decided he needed to do something.

“Shit. Armin, I think I forgot my wallet. Would you mind going back with me to get it?”

Armin looked at him and Jean could see Armin’s grandfather turning around to give him an ugly look for cursing.

“Sure, I’ll go. We’ll be right at home, grandfather.”

“Don’t take long.” He continued to walk back to his place, leaving the boys alone.

“So, you can relax now. I didn’t forget it. I just wanted you to have a little peace.” Jean confessed.

“Oh, Jean, I’m so sorry. Please, please forgive them. They mean well, I swear...”

“No, they don’t.” Armin’s eyes widened a bit. “But it’s fine. I came here for you. To spend time with you. I don’t care about them.”

“Still, I’m really sorry... I wanted to bring you here so you could enjoy a peaceful life, even if it’s only for a few days. I should have known this would happen, I...”

“Armin, relax.” Jean chuckled. “I swear, it’s fine. What’s making me feel bad is seeing you like this, specially because of me.” 

“O-Okay. I’m sorry.” He straightened up, trying to recover.

“Let’s go.”

Jean started to walk home, with his hands on his pockets. He didn’t understand how Armin could be such an amazing boy being raised in this town.

 

\---------------------------------

 

They got home and, once again, Armin insisted Jean would take a shower first. After he did, he decided to use the time Armin was on the shower to call Marco. He had been Armin’s rock, but at that moment, he needed _his_ rock.

“Hey, Jean.” He heard Marco’s voice on the other side of the line.

“Dovremmo parlare in fretta e in italiano.” [We have to speak fast, and in Italian.]

“Perché?” [Why?]

“Armin sta facendo la doccia e non puoi sapere di che cosa parlo.” [Armin is taking a shower and he can’t know what I’m talking about.]

“So I can speak English?”

“Of course, you douche.”

“You said ‘we’ had to speak Italian.”

“I’m going to punch you right in the fucking face, I swear to God.”

“Okay, geez. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Questa gente é  _pazza_. Non lo so come una persona così bella come lui è nata qui. Voglio tanto stare con lui, ma... Qui, non ché come.” [These people are  _crazy_. I don’t know how someone as great as he was born here. I want to be with him so bad, but... Here, there's no way.]

“Hang in there, Jean. What did they say?”

“Cose terribili. Sulla mia sessualità. Non voglio ricordarmi adesso. Ovviamente loro non sanno ché sono gay, ma...” [Horrible things. About my sexuality. I don’t want to remember it right now. Obviously they don’t know I’m gay but...]

“Ignore them. You can do it, and you know it. You’ve faced this kind of problem before and got over it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah...”

“So stop feeling down  right now. If I see your depressed face when you get back I’ll kick your ass.” He chuckled, making Jean feel at ease. “Now talk to me about him. Tell me how he’s a fucking little angel that you want to bang so hard he falls from heaven.”

“You can make anything sound horrible, did you know that?”

"It's my talent." Jean laughed and he could hear Marco doing the same from the other side.

“Voglio spendere tutta la mia vitta con lui, Marco. Non ché nessuno come lui. Non lo so più che cosa fare.” [I wanna spend my whole life with him, Marco. There’s no one like him. I dunno know what to do anymore.]

Jean would’ve spend the rest of the night talking to Marco about Armin, but when he turned to the door he noticed the boy staring at the floor, below the portal, thinking.

“I gotta go, call you later.” He hung up — as usual without giving Marco a chance to reply — and walked to the boy. “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yes, yes, everything’s fine.” He smiled softly, his cheeks blushed. “We should... Go to bed.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

The boys turned off the lights and laid on the beds. Jean was almost asleep when Jean heard Armin’s sweet voice.

“Jean...”

“Yeah?”

“Domani voglio andare in campo di nuovo.” [I want to go to the field again tomorrow.]

Jean felt his whole body freeze. Jean didn’t know _how_ or _where_ Armin had learned Italian, but he did. And he’d heard him. There was no way to hide now.

He  _knew_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, that Italian dialogue was tricky (and fun!!!). I hope everything is alright.  
> Thank you very much for reading and I hope you've enjoyed Armin being a little shit at the end. <3~


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean finally gets what he wants.

Three hours. That’s the amount of time Jean spent awake after finding out Armin knew about him. He was never scared of telling people he was gay because he didn’t care if he lost them. But this time it was different. It was Armin. He couldn’t lose  _ him _ . 

He got up and decided to wash his face. He used warm water so it would help him relax and got back to the room. On his way he found Armin’s grandfather staring at him in shock. He nodded to greet the man even though he was confused about the reason he had such an angry look on his face. 

He got back to the room and watched the blond sleeping for a few minutes from his bed. Later, he finally managed to sleep as well.

When he woke up the sun was shining through the window and Armin was no longer in the room. His bed was made and Jean felt ashamed to have slept so  much. He quickly got up and put on his clothes.

Armin got into the room at that moment and Jean greeted him.

“‘ Morning.”

“Good morning. Um... There’s breakfast.” He said, looking nervous.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jean approached him, worried.

“Nothing. Shall we?” Armin gave him a fake smile. 

“ Tell me.”

Jean asked, grabbing his wrist but Armin pulled it away quickly. Jean was sure he’d lost him. He was sure the blond didn’t want him touching him because he liked men. 

He watched, disappointed, as Armin checked something outside the room and whispered.

“Parleremo in campo.” [We’ll talk on the field.] 

He decided to nod, trying not to give up hope. 

  
\---------------------------------

 

Armin’s grandfather spent the whole time they were eating breakfast without barely talking to Jean and giving him a dirty look whenever the boy opened his mouth to say something. He wished he at least knew what he’d done, but decided not to pay much attention to it. All he cared about was Armin.

The boys finished their breakfast and cleaned up before heading to the field. It was, indeed, beautiful and peaceful, but Jean was a pile of nerves. Armin wouldn’t say anything and they could barely see the road after such a long time waking into it. 

Suddenly, he felt Armin’s index finger grab his own. He was shocked, but when he looked at the boy the other  was still facing forward, so Jean decided to do the same. That was until Armin stopped, turning to him. He copied the boy’s movements. 

“Can I... Ask you something?” 

_ Oh fuck. _

“Y-Yeah, sure.” He did his best to seem calm. 

“...” Armin hesitated. “W-Who... Is it?”

“W-Wha- Who? Wha-?” 

_ Way to look calm, dude.  _

“I... Heard you yesterday. On the phone. W-Who... Is it?”

He couldn’t confess. If he told Armin the truth and he didn’t feel the same way, he might never talk to him again. He was so nervous he was shaking.

“...I... I can’t... I can’t say.”

“Is it... Is it... M-Me?” 

_Ohhhhh fuck. Fuckfuckfuckityfuckfuckfuck. Y’know what? Just tell him. Go on, it can’t get worse. Just do it._

“ Y-Y-Yes.” 

And then he waited. But Armin didn’t do anything. He just stood there, staring at him like he was thinking about something. As usual, Jean got tired of waiting for the blond to finish and decided to request an answer. 

“Do you...?” 

He saw Armin widen his eyes and open his mouth. He was trying so hard to say something, but the words seemed to be stuck in his throat. Jean got it. Armin couldn’t say the words because he spent his whole life learning it was  _ wrong _ . So he thought about an alternative. He didn’t need to hear. He just needed to know. 

“I-It’s okay! You don’t have to say it yet. Just... Squeeze my hand if you do.” He held Armin’s hand, entwining their fingers so he could feel it better.

And he did. It wasn’t a strong squeeze, but it was firm enough for the taller boy to be sure he’d silently said “yes”. 

Jean was so happy he had to bite his index finger and squirm a bit to contain the shout stuck inside him.  He turned to the boy whose hand he was still holding and touched his cheek. 

“C-Can I... Can I please kiss you?” He had to ask. He had to believe it was real. But he did so as quietly as possible so no one could hear it. 

Armin slowly lowered himself to the ground  —  _ Jean, this is  _ not _ the time to think about this kind of thing. _ — and laid there, looking at the flowers for a moment. Then, Jean got it. He was hiding.

He copied the smaller boy, laying next to him. He was still far, so Jean touched his waist, pulling him closer, touching his cheek with his right hand. He gathered all his courage and gave him a soft kiss, just to see what it was like. It was perfect, just like he’d imagined. 

He tried again, delicately licking Armin’s lips, asking for entrance.  He thought he was going to die when the other allowed it and wasted no time in exploring his mouth. Armin seemed a little nervous, doing his best to follow Jean’s lead. 

The brunet didn’t realize how long he’d spent kissing Armin until he started to feel dizzy and realized he wasn’t breathing. He gently let the other boy go, giggling. He felt stupid but insanely happy. Even if he’d died during that kiss it would be okay, because he would’ve died a happy man. 

After a few more hours that seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, the boys realized they had to go back in order to get the bus. They got up and walked back to the road. When it was visible, Armin stopped and let go of Jean’s hand. 

“I can’t... No one can know...”

He was blushing, but not in the good way. Jean knew why he couldn’t, but still hurt him a bit to think he couldn’t kiss Armin in front of anyone.

“It’s okay. I know it’s hard... Specially here.” He tried to calm Armin down by touching his arm. “I won’t say anything.”

“ Thank you.”  Armin smiled in gratitude and it was enough for Jean.

  
\---------------------------------

 

The first time Jean thought about going back he wanted to die. But this time, he didn’t care. The trip could take forever for all he cared. Specially when Armin held his hand under the blankets they used on the bus. 

Jean was caressing the blond’s hand when the boy decided to take advantage of the fact people were sleeping and raised the covers so they’d be hidden under it. At first he was confused but he understood the smaller boy’s intentions when the other planted a soft kiss to his mouth. 

He didn’t care if Armin was fooling no one with that blanket. He was  _ being kissed _ by the boy he’d been dreaming of for the last two or three months. His only desire was for him not to wake up and find out it was all, indeed, a dream. 

It was almost 7AM when they arrived and Jean was still tired. Maybe all the stress he’s been through had been using up all the energy from his body, so now he was exhausted. 

They got into the room and Jean put his phone on the nightstand and his backpack on the floor. When he turned, Armin had closed the door and let go of his own backpack. Jean couldn’t resist the urge to grab him by the waist and kiss him again. 

“Sorry. I just... You have no idea how long I wanted to kiss you.” He kept his forehead in contact with Armin’s and laughed at him.

“I-It’s... It’s okay.” 

The blond seemed to have returned to his human form  — He apparently became a mannequin when Jean had kissed him  — and held the brunet’s arms, slightly squeezing them.

_ Is he... Is he checking my muscles? Oh. My. God. He is, isn’t he? Working out was  _ worth it _! _

“I’m kinda beat, so... Can we...?” He indicated the bed, realizing his eyes were nearly closing. 

“ Yes, of course.” 

Armin walked to the bed, taking his clothes off on the way. Jean had to admit he had thought twice about sleeping by Armin’s side, but the blond convinced him by laying there in his underwear. It was too much for the brunet to resist. 

He copied the boy’s actions and laid beside him, pushing him to the other side of the bed, making room for himself. When hugged Armin closely and entwined their legs  — He had to resist his urge to laugh when he realized the blond’s feet were just as cold as his hands. — and felt the smaller one’s heart was beating incredibly fast when it was pressed against his chest.

“Calm down. I’m not going to grab your ass or anything... Unless you want me to.”

He joked, even thought it was partially truth. He did want to grab that amazing butt since the first day, after all. His response came accompanied by a slap on his forehead.

_It was worth a shot._

“Shut your mouth and sleep, idiot.”

“ Woah, woah, woah! “Shut up”  _ and _ “ Idiot”? Look who’s learning how to curse!”

“If you keep talking you’ll never kiss me again.” Armin raised his hand with such a mischievous look it was like Jean was discovering a brand new side of him. 

“ Okay, fine.”  He grabbed Armin closer, not wanting him to go anywhere. He wouldn’t let him go. 

  
\---------------------------------

 

When he heard his phone ringing, Jean tried to get it but Armin wouldn’t let him go. He had a hard time believing this was actually happening. He stretched, picking up the phone and seeing Marco’s face on the bright screen.

“It’s Marco.”  He informed Armin, answering the phone. “Hey, what’s up?"

“Hey, you’re back, right? Wanna go out and eat?” 

“Oh... Um... Hold on.” He had to tell Marco. 

Not only because he always knew when Jean was dating someone but also because he was his best friend. Actually, he was basically his brother. He pressed the phone against his chest and turned his head to look at Armin.

“I know you said I couldn’t tell anyone but... Can I tell Marco? He won’t tell anyone and... Well, he’ll find out anyway. Trust me.”  He whispered.

Armin hesitated, but nodded, giving him permission. 

“Great.” He smiled. “By the way, do you wanna go out to eat?” 

“Can we go to Mc Donald’s?”  Armin asked, looking like an abandoned puppy and making Jean laugh.

“Yeah.” He raised the phone, going back to his previous talk.  “Hey, I’m back. Listen, I’m in. Can you come get me?”

“ Why? You’re gonna get lost or something?”

“Oh, just come you cocksuker.”

“ Um... No, no, that’s your thing, darling.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. Go fuck yourself.” 

He hung up when he heard Marco laughing at his own joke. 

After a few minutes they were fully dressed and Marco knocked on the door. Jean opened it and the freckled boy was standing there, looking at his phone. 

“Come on, slowpoke. I’m hungry.” 

“Get in.” 

Marco looked up, confused and got into the room. 

“First, there’s something you need to know.”

“ Okaaay...” He  raised an eyebrow, suspicious. 

Jean got closer to Armin but he didn’t know what to say. Actually, he didn’t know  _ how  _ to say it. He decided it would be best to  _ show  _ it. He grabbed Armin’s face and kissed him. The poor boy went back to his “mannequin mode”, frozen in the middle of the room.

“H-How... But you... You said...” Marco let his phone fall on the floor from the shock.

“This little shit knows Italian! He heard what I said about him, so everything sorta worked out.” This explanation was enough for now. 

“You... What? Where did you learn it?”

“I studied in the Language’s Department’s library.” Armin confessed.

“ You learned Italia n  _ in college _ ? In like... Two-three months?”

“Um...” He lowered his head, as usual.

“Go ahead, say he’s a genius.” He felt so proud of his boyfriend. 

“Well, he’s obviously not. He’s dating you.” Marco gave him that usual “I’m done talking to you” look.

“ Oh, fuck you.” 

Jean gave him the finger and pushed him out of the room. He went back to Armin and pulled him by the arm, letting go as soon as they reached the door. He didn’t need to tell anyone else about his relationship. Marco knew and he could be with the boy whenever he wanted. Kiss him whenever he wanted. He’d be fine. This was all he needed.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean is gross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter was much shorter when I wrote it, specially because I cut half of it in comparison to Armin's. But I think it's just because Armin's is huge... Hm... ANYWAY!!! (Why am I blabbering?)   
> Marco shows up more in this chapter and I hope you like him and his interactions with Jean. I'd like to expose their relationship a bit more. Not just for fun, but I also have plans to use it to develop Jean and Armin's relationship. Besides, I like Marco and I always have fun when he's around, so... Yeah. I hope you don't mind. (Why am I STILL blabbering???)  
> Well, let's see if I can make everything I have planned happen and I hope you enjoy watching me try! LOL!

It was Christmas morning and Jean was sleeping in Marco’s place. He didn’t remember the last time he’d woken up on December 25 th and  _didn’t_ see Marco’s freckled face. It wasn't unusual for them to share a bed, after all, they've been doing it ever since the "bed" was still a "crib". Their parents were neighbors and best friends for years and the boys would always do everything together. Including celebrating Christmas, a time when Jean's parents were usually travelling. 

When he was a child he used to have a permanent marker on his bag and he’d always play “Connect the Dots” with the freckles on his friend's face. But he was probably too old for that now. So he carried an air horn. He slowly got out of the huge bed and got it, standing as far away as possible with his upper body leaning forward, stretching the arm that hold he object close to the other boy's face. After many years he’s learned not to stand close when pranking the boy. 

He pressed the button and was glad he took his distance because Marco jumped out of bed and tried to punch him. 

“FUCK, JEAN!!! EVERY YEAR!!!” He rubbed his eyes listening to Jean’s hysterical laugh. “What are you, five?”

After a few seconds, he was trying to hold his laugh but he still punched Jean on the arm. He deserved it. The freckled boy took the air horn to himself and started  squeezing right at Jean’s ear.

“STOP, YOU FUCK!!! I’m gonna go deaf!” He pushed Marco away and the intercom inside the other boy’s room rang.

The room’s owner pressed the button and his father’s voice came on.

“Are you two done with your annual shenanigans? When you’re done there’s food and presents.”

“Yeah, dad. We’re done. Jean if you press it I’ll fucking kill you.” He pointed a finger at the other, who threw the object on the bed raising his hands innocently. “We’ll be down in a sec.”

“Okay. Now, listen to me very carefully: If this air horn reaches my kitchen you’ll both be homeless forever, understood?” 

“Yes, sir.” Marco laughed and threw Jean's shirt at him. “Put that on. No one wants to see you naked.”

“I’m not naked, I’m displaying a beautiful masterpiece called ‘My Chest’.” He ran his hands seductively on his chest, raising his eyebrows at Marco.

“...” He stood there for a few seconds, with a bored expression. “Gross.” 

And he got out of the room.

“Man, you're breaking my heart.” 

“Oh, shut the fuck up!” He laughed, going down the stairs, followed by Jean. 

The boys were greeted by Marco's parents with strong hugs and “Merry Christmas” wishes. Jean had to admit being able to hold other parents helped him not miss his own so much. Marco’s family was always like this. Everyone hugged, talked and had fun all the time. He used his laptop on top of the kitchen counter to talk to his parents on Skype. 

“ Hey mom and dad.” He crossed his arms above the counter, placing his head above them.

“Hey, son. How are you?” His father said with the same sleepy expression as Jean. 

“I’m fine. I miss you.”

“We miss you too. Honey, wake up.” 

His mom was sleeping on the chair on the other frame of the conference.

“What? Oh, hey son!” 

“Hey mom.” He laughed. “Where are you now?” 

“China. I’m sorry, I had a busy day. But I’m awake now, I promise.” 

“What about you, dad?” 

“France. Are you enjoying things over there with Marco?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Thanks. When will you be back?”

“I’ll be home on the 29 th .” His father said, excited.

“Really? That’s early!” Jean smiled brightly. 

“I think I’ll take a bit longer, but I’ll be there for the New Year’s Party. Don’t worry.” His mom confessed.

“I see...” Jean’s smile wasn’t so strong now, but he was still pretty happy.

“Son, I have to go to a meeting in a few minutes. Sorry. I promise we’ll talk when I get home. Oh, and I sent you a gift.” 

“Okay. Bye, dad. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, son.” His dad smiled softly, certainly wishing he could be there. 

“You can go to bed, mom.” He laughed at his mother who was taking another nap. 

“Wha-? Damn. I’m sorry, son, I’ll try calling you in the morning, I swear. Marco, please take care of him and hand him the gift I left with you.”

“Will do, Miss Kirstein!” He smiled and waved from behind Jean. 

The brunet turned off the computer, a little less excited than he was before. Marco approached and hugged him with one arm.

“Come oooon. Let’s open the presents! And if that doesn’t cheer you up, just remember you studied your ass off, which means Armin is coming to your place tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” Once again  Jean smiled, getting down from the tall stool of Marco’s kitchen and sat on the floor near the Christmas tree to open the presents. 

  
\---------------------------------

 

Jean had been waiting for about fifteen minutes until he saw a van passing. 

“Oh! Oh! Go around the station and stop right in front of him! I wanna try something.”

“Getting a brain?” 

“Hey, just do it okay?”

“I’m not going to participate in this bullshit.” Levi said, staring at the rear view mirror to see Jean on the back seat.

“Come oooon! You’re getting  _paid_ to do this!”

“Kid, your parents pay me to do three things and three things only: — He raised three fingers, lowering them as he counted — Wear this stupid uniform, handle the luggage and get your disgusting little ass _to_ and _from_ places. None of these tasks include playing around with their car so you can make yourself look like an idiot in front of some boy you wanna fuck, okay?”

“W-Who says I wanna fuck him?”

“Your stupid face.”

“...Here’s a hundred bucks. Do it, you money whore.” He handed Levi the bill.

The man stared at it, putting it against the sunlight to see if it was real and put it on his pocket, but didn’t move the car.

“Why aren’t you doing what I asked???” 

“ Funny thing: y ou know I’m a money whore, you know _I_ know how much you get for  allowance  and you offer me a hundred bucks as bribe? Try again, kid.”

“Ugh, fine!!!” He took another two bills from his pocket. “Is three hundred enough?”

Levi didn’t answer, but he put away the money and a tiny hint of a smile was formed on the corner of his mout h  while he fulfilled Jean’s wish. 

When he stopped the car right int front of Armin, Jean had to admit he was dating a  _fine_ man.  Not that he didn’t know this already, but this time the blond was looking better than usual.  He wore  a white formal shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark jeans and a thin belt.  The brunet would’ve drooled over him but he had a mission: the best entrance ever.

He opened the window, turned his head to the boy and lowered his glasses. 

“ Get in, loser. We’re going shopping.”

“I... I thought we were going to your house.” 

“AAAWW MAAAAAN!!!”

Jean threw the glasses behind him. The moment was ruined.

“Seriously!? You ruined my perfect entrance! I even made Levi go around the station a few times waiting for you.” 

“What... What were you trying to do?”

“’ Mean Girls’, dude! Argh, forget it.”  He opened the door and took Armin’s suitcase. “ You  _ gotta _ learn about stuff that’s not on books. Seriously.”

The boys got back in the car after Levi took the suitcase out of Jean’s hand and put it on the trunk. 

As usual, the short man drove recklessly, but the brunet was used to it. Armin, on the other hand, was  whiter than Jean had ever seen him. He loved the boy's skin but it was so pale he was getting worried. He tried to talk, ease the mood, but his efforts were useless. The blond would just slightly nod or give a monosyllabic reply to his questions and topics.

When they finally arrived,  Jean made sure his dog, Beast, was on his leash before letting Armin in. The blond appreciated the view of the hall while the dog calmed down so Jean decided it would be best not to make a fuss and just let the animal  go to the boy. 

He didn’t know who got more startled, honestly. But he was glad to see Armin  petting his dog. He loved that silly animal with all his heart, and now, the love of his life was getting along with him. He couldn’t help imagining a really old Beast with his big head on Armin’s lap. He’d be older too, and preferably with a wedding ring on his finger. 

  
\---------------------------------

 

After Jean introduced Armin to his room — And the little bastard drooled all over his butler — and they exchanged Christmas presents. The brunet thought it would be funny to give Armin new boxers with beluga whale’s printed on it. He handed it to his boyfriend, waiting for his response. 

“ Oh, Jean... Thank you! But wait! I have something for you too, this time!” He gave Jean a big smile and got a present from his suitcase before opening his gift. “Merry Christmas.”

The brunet wondered what it was and was surprised to see a dark blue sweater inside.

“I... I made it myself.” Armin confessed.

“ You  _ made _ i t?”  Jean didn’t even know Armin could make sweaters.

“Yes! Um... My neighbor taught me while I was at home. It was hard, but I think I got the hang of it.”

“This is amazing!” Jean put it on and could almost feel the amount of love deposited on those threads. “Look. It fits!”

“Of course it does. I know your size well.”

Armin blushed instantly, lowering his head and Jean smiled. He knew his size. He paid attention to him.

The taller boy lowered his head like he’d done on the first time they met, but this time his intentions were different. He didn’t want to see the blond’s face to read his expression. He wanted to kiss the boy and now he _could_.

“Thank you. It’s really great.” Armin bit his lower lip and Jean melted. 

“I’ll open mine now!” 

The blond decided to open his present and Jean could see he was trying not to laugh as he raised the boxers, staring at them. 

“I was going to buy you another gift but... This is the best one I could ever give you.” He confessed, laughing.

“I hate you.” 

Armin pushed the brunet, getting up and going to the bathroom. When he came back he was wearing the boxers and his shirt. It was such an amazing sight Jean was starting to feel hot inside that sweater. 

“W-What?” Armin looked at himself, blushing. 

“You’re so sexy that even wearing this stupid boxers you turn me on.” The sincere words didn’t ask for permission to come out.

Armin blushed violently this time and hid his face with his bangs, going back to the bed. 

“W-Wh-What are you saying??? S-Shut up!!!” He was so cute Jean _had_ to kiss him.

“Thank you. I loved my new sweater...”

“I loved my present as well.” 

Armin smiled and hugged Jean. The uncomfortable position forced the boys to lay on the bed. The smaller cuddled  in Jean’s arms and ended up falling asleep. The brunet lifted the other boy’s bangs to kiss his forehead and placed his own head on top of Armin’s. 

Then he made the mistake of admiring the blond’s body and noticed the boxers were slightly large on his waist, so when he moved the beginning of his bottom could be seen from Jean’s point of view. 

_ Ohhh fuck. No. Don’t. Don’t you dare. Don’t peek. I’m serious Jean. _

_ Jean. _

_ Don’t.  _ _ Peek. _

His hands brushed through the smaller one’s back until the waistband of his boxers.

_ YOU CREEP!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? _

_ But... It’s just a peek. I won’t do anything. _

_ NO!!! IT DOESN’T MATTER!!! _

_ But I want to see it so baaaad. Since the first day! _

_ NO! You can’t. _

_ Why? He’s my boyfriend. I should be allowed to see. _

_ He did not give you permission. _

_ But I won’t even touch it! I just want to take a peek! _

_ Just a peek. _

_ Just one quick and innocent peek. _

And then he regretted peeking. He couldn’t even see the whole thing, just half of it, but his body reacted like Armin had just stripped for him. 

He felt so guilty he tried to change positions so his disgusting and unfair erection wouldn’t touch those innocent and immaculate hips. But the bond wouldn’t let go of him.

_ You know what this is? This is God punishing you for violating the privacy of one of his angels. He might be forgiving but what you did was unforgivable. Even for God.  _

_ Oh God, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I swear I didn’t mean any harm. I just wanted to peek. I just wanted to see if it was as perfect as I’d imagined. And it is God. You know it is. You made it. And I gotta say you did one hell of a job, I mean... Wow. BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT! I’ll never do it again if this boner goes away right now. _

He tried to relax and think about other things  until someone softly knocked on the door. He knocked back, knowing there was only one person who knew this was a sign to come in. If it was one of the maids or Erwin they would’ve stayed out, but the door opened just enough so he could see half of Marco’s face. 

When the boy saw them he put his whole head inside the room, without coming in and mouthed “Gross.”, laughing in silent. Jean gave him the finger, biting his lower lip so he wouldn’t laugh himself and Marco waved at him, leaving and closing the door. 

Jean played with Armin’s golden locks and caressed his head, waiting for him to wake up so they could enjoy their time together even more. 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean tries to understand Armin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll check the last chapter but I think I didn't mention Marco was Jean's neighbor. If you read Armin's POV you know it already, but still, please forgive me. Sometimes I have information in my head and forget you guys can't READ MINDS. *Facepalm* Please forgive me. I'll try editing the last chapter so it'll be clear. 
> 
> BTW, if you want to you an follow me on [Tumblr](http://shinchiisanakyojin.tumblr.com). I'll post information about my new works and, if you're interested, updates for this fic. Just let me know! ;3
> 
> Well, that's it. I hope you like this chapter!

Jean laid in bed for a few hours before Armin finally woke up. The blond was a really light sleeper so Jean did his best not to move much, which made his body numb from the lack of movement.

Armin slowly opened his eyes and sat on the bed. His hair was messy and his expression was sleepy.

“ Hey, Sleeping Beauty.” Jean made fun of him while stretching his sore body. 

“ Sorry I slept too much.” He rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers.

“ It’s okay. You must’ve been tired. Do you wanna eat something?”

“ I would love to.” He gave Jean a soft smile. 

“ Let’s go then.”

Armin put his pants on before the boys left the room. Beast was sleeping on the door and didn’t let them through until both boys had properly petted him. The dog followed them until they reached the end of the stairs where Erwin was waiting for them.

“ Um... Sir, I’m currently making the preparations for the party and I’d like your opinion on a few matters since your parents haven’t come back yet.” 

“ Oh, yeah, okay. Just a sec. Armin, you can go by yourself and I’ll meet you there?”

“ B-But I...” He looked apprehensive. 

“ It’s okay. It’s right over there and no one will bother you. The only person you might find is the cook and-...” Then, he remembered his cook, Sasha. She was unpredictable and meeting her alone would probably be too much for Armin. “Sasha isn’t here today, is she?”

“ No, sir.” Erwin smiled. 

“ Okay then.” Jean turned to Armin, pointing to the hallway on their right. "See, no problem. It’s the third door on that hallway over there, Beast can take you. And if you want to go anywhere just tell him where you wanna go. He’ll guide you.”

“ ...A-Are you serious?” He raised an eyebrow with a skeptic look on his face. 

“ Super serious.” 

“ Wow. And you dare to say he’s an idiot.” Armin shook his head in disappointment, kneeling to hug Beast, who was obviously loving the attention. “Come on, baby. Let’s leave this silly owner of yours. I want to see the  _ _ kitchen _ _ !” 

“ Screw you!” Jean shouted as Armin and Beast left together, heading to the hall. “So, what is it, Erwin?”

“ What kind of fireworks are you planning on having?”

“ Oh, I want those colorful ones. And please don’t get those that make a lot of noise and no lights. I hate them.”

“ I see...” He took notes on a small notebook. “What about the drinks those who can’t have alcohol, like yourself?” 

Erwin had a smirk on his face, clearly showing he knew Jean didn’t exactly followed the law in this case.

“ I dunno. Oh, get Coke. Tons of it! Armin loves it!” 

“ Speaking of your friend, Armin... I need information about him. Does he own a suit?” 

“ I think so. But I haven’t seen it yet. I just asked him to bring it.”

“ I see... If he needs one, please inform me by the time your father returns or sooner.”

“ Gotcha.” 

“ And... If I may ask, sir...” He closed his notebook and put it on the inside pocket of his suit. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“ W-What? N-No! Why do you say that?” Jean was suddenly nervous. 

_ This guy knows  _ everything _! _

“ Because when you look at him your eyes glisten. So, if he’s not your boyfriend, you’re planning on making him so. Am I wrong?”

“ T-That-! Y-You-! You know what? Y-You can’t! You ‘may _ not _ ’ ask me. Okay? It’s none of your business.” 

“ I understand, sir. I apologize. Thank you for the information, I’ll make sure everything is according to your tastes.” The taller man still had that smirk across his face. 

_Clever bastard. I should never let Armin near you. If you team up against me I’m fucked._

Jean walked to the kitchen to meet Armin, but he heard another familiar voice.

_Marco? What the fuck is he still doing here? He’s been stealing food from my fridge until now?_

And then he heard what Marco was saying as he got closer.

“ ... _ marry _ him.”

“ Oh my God!!!” Jean was glad he got there in time to hear Armin’s laughing like that. He smiled a lot, but Jean couldn’t remember a time where he’d laughed so hard.

“ He even had a bouquet made out of flowers he stole from the little boy’s garden!!! ”

_Oh no._

“ He stole from the boy’s house???”

_Ohhhhhh no._

“ Yes!!! His mother went crazy at the time, it was a mess.”

_THIS LITTLE FUCKER!!!!!_

“ MARCO!!!” Jean got into the kitchen and he could feel his cheeks and ears burning intensely. “WHAT ARE YOU TELLING HIM???”

He punched his friend in the arm but it had no effect. The boy was still laughing, and so was Armin.

“ I’m telling him the truth!” Marco raised his hands like he had nothing to do with it. 

“ Just shut up!!!” 

Before Jean could realize, Armin had gotten up and kissed him. Right there, in front of Marco and in a place anyone could see. The boy seemed to realize what he’d done and ended up backing away, blushing.

“ Soooo, I gotta go.” Marco had sensed the mood, so he decided to leave. “I’ll see you guys in a few days, at the party?”

“ Yeah, sure.” Jean wasn’t sure of what he was agreeing to. 

Marco got closer and gave him a quick hug with a few pats on the back.

“ He’s great. Don’t let him go.” He whispered during the hug and waved at Armin before leaving. 

“ It... It made me really happy.” Jean confessed after a few minutes of silence and he was sure he could see Armin’s smile from the corner of his eyes.

  
\---------------------------------

 

He’d felt bad about having to sleep apart from Armin the night before, but the morning came and made it worth it. When he woke up, the blond’s left hand was on his chest and those perfect lips were kissing his neck.

Jean opened his eyes, brushing his thumb against Armin’s cheek.

“ Good morning...” The blond smiled and Jean’s heart melted with it’s beauty. 

“’ Mornin’...” He instinctively rolled over, laying on top of the other boy kissing his neck.

He felt his cold hands touching his chest and arms. He remembered when they had just met and he imagined what it would be like while Armin touched the surface of his laptop and realized it was much better than he expected.

When he moved to reach Armin’s lips their groins were in contact and he could feel the blond’s excitement though the fabric of his pants. Realizing this, he kicked the little sanity left in his body and moved a bit more, trying to see if the other would allow it.

He had to admit he was doing his best work with his tongue, hoping the boy wouldn’t mind the lower part of their bodies that much. Jean had been dying to do this for such a long time and, even though he didn’t plan it, he was hoping to see it through the end.

When he increased his rhythm, Armin held onto his shoulders and Jean’s lips ended up leaving the blond’s so he could focus on his movements. He ended up closing his eyes when he saw Armin’s blushed expression. He was sure he wouldn’t last a second longer if he watched. However, his curiosity forced him to make the mistake of opening his eyes once again.

When he did, he saw Armin’s eyes shut tight, his mouth slightly opened  — Even though he didn’t make a sound  —  and his back so arched his chest was nearly touching Jean’s. It was definitely the most amazing and sexiest sight he’d ever seen and, as he expected, he let himself go completely.

He saw Armin opening his eyes and blushed.

“ D-Did I... Did I just...?” The blond's voice was low and he was struggling with his words.

“ Y-Yeah...That's how it's supposed to go.” He laughed at the boy’s attempts.

“ B-But... It was... It was different... It was... M-Much... B-Better...”

“ I-I was hoping it would be.” Jean blushed, not knowing what to say. 

_ Geez, and people say  _ I’m  _ too honest.  _

He buried his face on Armin’s neck and they were silent for some time. He could almost hear the blond’s brain working while his head was softly caressed by him.

“ What happened to me... Was it an org-” Jean quickly covered his mouth.

_WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ASKING???_

“ D-DON’T ASK ME THAT!!!” He could feel himself blushing violently.

“ W-Why??? I... I’m asking a scientific question!” Armin moved his hands forcefully and pouted.

“ And that’s why it’s embarrassing!!!”

“ But I’m curious!” He managed to pout even more, getting genuinely angry.

“ Then go read a book!!!”

“ I  _ have _ read them!!! But they don’t describe how it feels!”

“ B-But don’t ask  _ me _ ! Oh my God, this is the worst pillow talk ever.”

“ What is ‘pillow talk’?”

“ I-It’s... I don’t wanna explain this to you!!!” He got up, embarrassed, and took of his boxers so he could take a shower.

“ JEAN!!!” The blond covered his eyes, sitting on the bed. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”

“ I-I was about to take a shower!!!” He looked at the boy, confused.

“ Y-You’re naked!!!”

_You’ve gotta be kidding me._

“ Hold on... We can walk around in underwear, share a bed, kiss, fucking... Fucking rub our dicks together but you can’t see me naked?” 

“ STOP DESCRIBING IT!!! AND OF COURSE I CAN’T!!! This is so embarrassing!!!”

“ And how was your talk before  _ not  _ embarrassing???”

“ I was asking a scientific question about the human body! This is different!”

“ Yes. That was horrible, this is fine.”

“ It is  _ not _ fine!!!”

Armin’s voice was cracking and Jean understood it was too much for him. For some weird reason he thought _doing it_ was less shameful than actually _saying it_. Their whole relationship was like this. They could spend time together, cuddle, kiss, hold hands... Pretty much do anything they wanted as long as it was hidden. If they didn’t talk about it. If they could pretend nothing was going on.

Even though he felt bad, Armin was still sitting on his bed, covering his eyes with a dark stain on his pants. Jean put on some random clothes he’d thrown in the bedroom the night before.

“ I'm dressed now. Do you want me to get your suitcase for you?” 

“ P-Please...” 

Jean left and walked to the guest room, taking Armin’s suitcase and bringing it to him. When he returned, the blond was no longer covering his eyes but he still looked nervous.

The brunet decided to take a shower and it ended up being enough for him to calm down. He was no longer frustrated. He knew Armin was doing his best to accept everything that was happening, but he’d been raised to  _ hate _ who he was and  _ don’t _ do everything he  _ was _ doing. Jean had a different life. His parents never once said something bad about his sexuality. They've always accepted it.

He got out of the shower and Armin took his place. He waited for the boy while sitting on a chair and remembered Marco’s words the day before.  _ “He’s great. Don’t let him go.” _ , he said. And it was true. Armin was still changing, but he was the man of his dreams. Jean could perfectly see himself spending the rest of his life with him. All he needed was a little patience.

The blon got out of the shower fully dressed.

“ Can we go eat breakfast?” He got up from the chair.

“ Y-Yes...I-I'm sorry about...” Armin’s head was lowered.

“ It's fine. I understand things are going a little too fast for you." He smiled and held his face to kiss him. "Let’s go.” 

They got down the stairs and into the kitchen to find Sasha was preparing lunch.

"H-Heeeeey, Sasha..." Jean tried to smile. This was the worst time for Armin to meet her.

"Hey, Jean! I'mjustmakinglunch!Doyouwantbreakfast?Icanmakeitforyou.Whatdoyouwant?Hey,who'syourfriend?Whatdoeshewannaeat?Icouldmakeafewpancakesoreggsandbaconor..."

Jean could see Armin’s eyes widened, so he decided to slow her down.

"Sasha, breath. Speak slowly, not everyone can understand you."

"Oh! Sorry! Whaaat doo yooou guuuys waant fooor luuunch?"

"We'll have some of your delicious pancakes, please." He smiled at her.

"Coming right up!" She smiled and started to prepare the meal. 

“ Sorry about this." Jean sat on the stool from the kitchen, chuckling. "When we're done here I'll show you something.”

“ What is it?” Armin looked at him, curious. 

“ What’s behind that door under the stairs.

He could see the blond widening his eyes so much he could fully see his blue eyes shimmering with excitement and his big smile. He wanted to see his reaction to what was inside even more now.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which half the chapter is dialogue??? I dunno, man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again, but my tests are coming and I need to study. (Also I'm working on another fic. I shouldn't, but I am. orz)  
> SOOOOOOOOOO, there's a crack pairing on this fic, but I don't even care. I had to. I didn't even know I shipped it until I saw it somewhere else. Forgive me.

Jean wasn’t being mean at the time. Well, actually he was, but it was not his first intention.

Armin ate so fast he almost chocked a few times and Jean knew he wouldn’t see the boy for a while after he showed him what was inside that room. So he was enjoying watching his boyfriend, being close to him. But then he thought how amusing it would be to make him wait. To make him start moving around, play with his fingers, look at the ceiling hoping his actions would make time go by faster like he usualy did.

"Why are you taking so long?” He turned his head to Jean, obviously anxious.

"I’m enjoying my breakfast. Shut it.”

"But Jeaaaaaann...” He let out an adorable moan, letting his arms and face touch the counter.

"No buuuut, Armiiiiiin...” He mocked, having way too much fun with it.

"You are the worst.” Armin rose his head, pouting with his cheeks slightly inflated.

"Thanks.” He smirked, making sure the blond could see it.

Jean made sure of eating as slowly as possible, chewing for a long time before swallowing and honestly enjoying Armin’s frustrated expression. He just looked so adorable the brunet could eat _him_ up. 

When he was finally done, he got up from the stool, putting the plates on the sink and thanking Sasha for the food by pulling her ponytail softly. She protested and Jean ignored her by chuckling. It was their usual relationship.

Sasha was actually the cook’s daughter, so Jean always played with the girl since they were kids. When her mother passed away, the boy’s parent’s offered her a job as long as she went to college as well. So she worked there along with her father.

Jean walked out of the kitchen and guided Armin to the door under the stairs.

“Listen, I’ll let you see what’s inside, _however_ — He raised his voice when he realized Armin wasn’t even listening. — You have to promise me, right now, that you’ll only enjoy it until the 29th. And I mean at midnight. December 29th, at midnight, you’ll have to leave. Deal?”

Armin gave him a suspicious look when he offered his hand.

“Jean, what is inside of this room? If you have a beluga whale in there I will never speak to you again.”

“It’s not a beluga.” He laughed and lowered his eyes to his hand with a light nod so Armin would shake it. “Deal?”

The blond hesitated but shook his hand, probably a little annoyed by the way he muttered the “Deal.” as a reply.

Jean told him to close his eyes while he pulled the boy into the room after opening the door. The boy’s lips were becoming white as he pressed them firmly so his eyes would stay shut, so Jean decided to allow him to open them.

When he did, those eyes wandered the whole room while his jaw slowly fell. He stepped inside followed by Jean’s attentive look and placed his hands on his cheeks, squeezing his own face.

“Ohhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...” He let out a sound that was a mixture of a moan and a shout while he looked around, observing everything around him.

_He makes more sexual noises eating and walking into a library than in bed with me. Unbelievable. If I didn’t know him better I’d loose all confidence as a man._

“Should I give you two a moment?” Jean mocked.

“I think it’s important that you do.”

Armin had his hand on one of the chairs, supporting him while the other was placed on his chest. Jean could see his face and it actually looked like he was about to have a stroke. Jean left and closed the door behind him, leaning on it and waited. He understood Armin was in heaven right now.

After a few moments, he heard a loud noise coming from inside the library and decided to enter the room once again. When he did, he saw Armin hanging from the ladder while it dashed across the room. He took a second to admire the other boy’s golden hair being blown by the wind before he said something.

“Are you having fun, Belle?” He had to make this joke.

The blond nearly fell before rushing to Jean and holding his hands.

“Oh, Jean, please, pleeease, can I read them? Please?”

He had his puppy eyes activated and Jean wondered if he knew he could say anything and Jean would obey immediately when he did that. Maybe he was using it on purpose.

“Wha-? Of course! Did you think I was going to bring you here just to look at them?”

“Oh, thank you!!! Thank you so much!!!” He hugged Jean’s neck and kissed him.

Even though it was a spontaneous and good kiss, Jean felt the boy wasn’t too focused and when he opened his eyes he found out the reason why. Armin’s eyes were open just like his and the boy was looking around, probably wondering where to start.

_This little shit._

“Go read your books, you nerd.” Jean gave him a smack on the head, stepping away.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I promise we will spend hours kissing when the time is up. I promise!” Armin grabbed Jean’s arm and gave him another kiss before grabbing the ladder and moving it to take a specific book out of the shelf. He sat on the ladder itself to read.

_He didn’t even get down._

“Hey, don’t fall, you hear me?” Jean mocked, but Armin didn’t seem to be listening.

The brunet shook his head and rolled his eyes as he left the room.

Jean spent hours playing video games in the game room before he noticed the time. He got up and went to the kitchen to ask Sasha to make him and Armin a sandwich. She made one for him and he took the other one to the library.

When he got in, Armin was still sitting in the same position on top of the ladder, reading.

“Are you kidding me?” He said, but the blond didn’t reply. Jean rolled his eyes once again, leaving the sandwich and the glass of juice on the table. “I brought you food. Try eating it.”

Once again he was ignored.

_This, Little. Shit._

“Armin, are you listening? … Armin, be quiet if you’ll let me blow you tonight.” No response. But at least now he was having fun with it. “Alright, then. It’s a date.”

He clicked his tongue twice, pointing his index finger at Armin like his hand was a gun and left the room. He decided to go to the gym on the right side of the house and work out a little.

After a couple hours he got tired, took a shower and got into the bathtub in the basement. When he got tired of that too, he took another shower and dressed up, going back to the library. Armin was now on the ground, writing on the table’s blackboard. Jean wondered how he’d managed to find out about it but it wasn’t important right now.

Armin was supporting himself with his right hand while his left wrote on the board with the intensity of an artist creating a masterpiece. His eyes wandered the whole board from time to time with the same look. Jean leaned against the door, admiring the boy for a few moments before he decided to say something.

“Whatcha doing over there?”

“Oh, no, wait!” He got closer, raising his hands so Jean wouldn’t approach the board. “Bonsoir, je m’appelle Armin. Je suis enchanté de vous rencontrer.” [Good evening. I’m Armin. Nice to meet you.]

“You learned French.” Jean was so done with Armin’s brain.

“Well, just a little bit.” He replied, chuckling. “Did I pronounce it correctly? I used that stereo over there, but I can only listen and repeat it. Was everything okay?”

“A little formal and with an accent, but... Yeah. Pretty much. But, wait a sec.” Jean took the book to look closer. Like he thought, it was written in French. “This is all in French. How did you understand it?”

“Well, you see, this one over here is the English version, so I just used Italian as a ‘base’, since they are both Romance Languages, and started to deduce a few words and expressions. I also used this dictionary for the words I just couldn’t understand from the context. And there was an audio book from a different book that I used to learn the pronunciation.”

If Jean was done with Armin’s brain before this, now he was not only done but also pissed off at it.

“You learned French. In four hours. In my library. With the translation of a book.” He summarized the facts. “I fucking hate you.”

“W-WHY??? What have I done???” Armin looked at him with widened eyes, actually unaware of what he’d done.

“You wanna learn French, huh, mister smarty-pants? Then let me ask you this: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?” Jean _had_ to make fun of him.

But, unfortunately, it didn’t work. Armin stood there, making a weird face and decided to take notes.

“C-Can you... Can you say it again? I... I didn’t take notes...” He took the marker and tried to remember the sentence as he wrote it again. “Okay, so... You want, no, you are asking if I want something...”

“Oh my God, you have no social culture.” It wasn’t even funny to mock him anymore.

“What do you mean?” Armin turned at him, making the most adorable angry face on earth.

“Everyone on earth knows this sentence, except you.”

“That is not possible. And I _will_ know it. In a moment. I think they used this ‘coucher avec’ in the book...”

He looked it up for a while on both books until he widened his eyes, turning at Jean.

“J-JEAN!!!” He hit the brunet with the book, angry. “W-What are you asking me?”

Jean laughed so hard he thought he’d die. Armin was still hitting him but the blush on the blond’s face made everything worth it. Jean threw the book on the table after taking it from his hands.

“D-Don’t throw it!!!” Armin pouted, pushing Jean.

“Oh, shut it. You were hitting me with it.” He held Armin’s thin wrists, pushing them down and got so close their bodies nearly touched. “You still haven’t given me an answer, though.”

“...I-I... I don’t... I-...” The blond blushed even harder, trying to give him a reply.

Jean loved when the boy was like this. Armin was the type of person who always had an answer for everything, and the few moments he didn’t, he’d ask a million questions about the subject.

But Jean liked him better like this. Blushing, without the most basic of the abilities: Talking. He couldn’t give him those long speeches that Jean had to focus on to understand, he couldn’t ask him a billion questions. And Jean was the one responsible. _He_ made Armin so turned on he couldn’t talk. He thought maybe _he_ was the little shit in this relationship after all. 

“Don’t worry.” He pulled Armin so their bodies would finally touch. “You don’t have to say ‘yes’ now. You can say it some other time. But I’d still like to hear it someday, y'know?”

It was true. He could wait. He could wait his whole life if the had to. As long as he could have Armin at least once he would die a happy man.

When Jean kissed Armin again, the brunet touched every corner of the other boy’s mouth with his tongue, determined to stop him from not paying attention like the last time. Even though he’d never admit to it, Jean even peeked with one eye to see if Armin’s were closed. Not only they were completely shut but the boy even grabbed his hair during it.

The brunet backed away when he realized he was getting too excited.

“Go enjoy your time with your damn books, nerd.” His hand moved to pinch Armin’s butt cheek before he could stop it and he got a slap on the arm as payback.

He left the library and went to his room. He took his guitar and played it for a few more hours. It was past 1AM when he decided to stop and go check on Armin.

When he arrived, the boy was laying on the library’s couch, sleeping with the open book covering his chest. Jean shook his head, taking the book and closing it before carrying Armin.

He had to admit the blond was much heavier than he expected, but now he couldn’t leave him there, much less ask for help. He had to keep what was left of honor as a man. Obviously that was much harder to keep when he had to carry the boy up the stairs.

_This is the first time in my life I wish you were a skinny little girl. Well, but I guess that what I get for feeding you with junk food every week. You’re probably getting fat._

When they finally reached the guest room Jean used all the strength left on his body to keep himself from throwing Armin on the bed. He gently placed the boy on the mattress before sitting next to him. He recovered for a few seconds and covered the blond.

“I can’t believe how heavy you are. And how _nerdy_ you are... Even so, what I really can’t believe is how you were able to fall in love with me.”

He gave Armin a gentle kiss on the cheek, but the blond was probably already sleeping. He left the guest room and got back to his own.

  
\---------------------------------

 

The next day Jean got up and checked on Armin. The boy was still sleeping when he went to the kitchen. Sasha’s father was there, ready to make him breakfast. He ate it, chatting with the cook and asked for a meal for Armin as well.

When he was about to leave the kitchen he saw the boy coming down the stairs.

“’Mornin’, loser.”

“Good morning, Jean.” Armin walked up to him, taking the glass and plate from his hands.

The blond stared at Jean for a moment, biting his lower lip.

“Are you sure you don’t mind me reading?”

“If you keep your promise, no.”

“O-Okay then. Please tell me if you do.” He looked genuinely guilty.

“I will.” Jean got closer to whisper in the blond’s ear. “But I’ll go over there later to get my ‘Good morning’ kiss.”

“Please do.” He chuckled, leaving to the library.

Jean obviously admired him walking away before going back to the game room. But after a few minutes he was bored, so he decided to callMarco.

“Hey. Can you come to my place?”

“Jean? Are you sure?” The freckled boy replied.

“Yeah. Armin is in the library.”

“Oh, you fool. You showed him the library?”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “It’s fine, he’s happy. So, anyway, will you come?”

“Yeah, sure. Give me ten minutes.”

“Alright.” He hung up.

After a few minutes, Jean heard the door bell and a few moments later Marco was in his room.

“So, wanna watch a movie or something? We could marathon something.” Jean said, going to the theater room.

“Uhhh, Game of Thrones. Let’s watch Game of Thrones!” Marco clapped his hands, excited.

“Okay, okay!” He got into the room and made popcorn on the microwave inside it.

They sat beside each other on the chairs, drinking sodas and eating while the show started. After one or two episodes, Marco decided to talk.

“Hm... Jean...” Marco started and the other lowered the volume to listen. “I... I wanted to tell you something. I’ve... I’ve been... Seeing someone.”

Marco stared intensely at the soda can, making Jean raise one eyebrow.

“Dude, are you about to tell me you’re gay?”

“Pff! You wish.” Marco laughed and punched him in the arm. “Actually, it’s more like... I’ve been seeing this girl and... I think I really like her, and we might even become serious in the future. So... So I wanted to tell you right now.”

“Just tell me, dude. You’re scaring me.”

“I-It’s... It’s Mina.”

“...Mina? Y-You mean... My Mina? My maid, Mina? Mina Carolina?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Oh...”

Jean didn’t really know what to think. It was so weird. Mina had worked for him for a while and for Marco, his best friend, his brother, to be dating her... It was _too_ weird.

“Y-You okay with it?” Marco asked with a worried look on his face.

“Yeah, sure!" He hurried to reply when he realized he'd spent a long time in silence. "I just... It’s just weird. But I’ll get used to it. If it makes you both happy, who am I to say something?”

“Thanks.” Marco smiled. “I like her. She’s sweet, kind...”

“And hot.” Jean pointed out.

“Yes, she is.” He laughed.

“Well, since we’re telling secrets, I’ll tel you something but you _can’t_ tell anyone, okay? Specially Armin.”

“Okay...”

“...We... Kinda...Um... Did it.” Jean turned his face away, blushing.

“WHAT???” Marco widened his eyes in shock. “Y-You guys had sex???”

He lowered his voice when he realized how high was his shout.

“N-Not really. He just, kinda... Um... ‘Tried to make a fire’...?”

“Is that some kind of gay slang?”

“Not really. Just... How do you make a fire in a camp?”

“Wha-? You rub two stick- OH MY GOD!!! I DID _NOT_ NEED TO KNOW THAT!!!!”

“BUT YOU ASKED!!!” He turned his face back to Marco.

“YEAH, BUT YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO RUIN CAMPING FOR ME!!!!”

“But isn’t it romantic? When you take Mina up to the woods, your bodies touch, the beautiful fire in front of you, you’ll remember this mental image of me and Armin...” Jean put one arm around Marco, pulling him closer and waving the other hand once in front of the boy like he was magically creating an image.

“SHUT UP!!! Now you’re even ruining Mina for me. Fuck, I can’t have a moment of happiness with you, can I?” Marco rubbed his own face.

“Nah, it’s my job to ruin your life for you.” Jean was laughing so hard it was difficult for him to say those words.

“I hate you so much.”

“We all know that’s a lie, darling.” He laughed, letting Marco go.

“Well, since you’ve already ruined everything, tell me how it was. I can’t really imagine Armin doing anything like this.”

“A little awkward. It just ended up happening and I think it was too much for him, so after it he was really nervous. But it was good!” He smiled. “Really good. I feel like he’s getting closer to me. Getting more comfortable around me...”

“I see... Well, it’s probably hard for him. He’s so … Uptight.” Marco chuckled.

“He is, isn’t he?” Jean laughed. “But it’s okay. I can wait.”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen you like this. It makes me happy you found someone you like so much. You had your boyfriends but I’ve never seen you so in love.”

“I know! Urgh. I don’t know what he did to me, but I’ve been crazy about him since the first day.”

“I know, I remember. ‘Ohh, Marco, he’s so hot, blablabla, he’s so smart, blablabla, wanna suck his dick. Blablabla.’” He mocked Jean with a thin voice, laughing.

“Oh, shut up. I never said I wanted to suck his dick!” Jean punched him in the arm.

“But you want to.” Marco shrugged.

“So much it actually hurts.” He took another sip from his soda, realizing the episode they were watching was over.

“Gross.” Marco laughed.

“You’re gross. With your boob-grabbing and stuff like that.”

“Hey, hey! No! No insulting boobies. You can say anything you want but they are on a different level.”

“’Boobies’, geez, you're so gay. How the fuck did you manage to get a girl?”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.”

The boys laughed and started focusing on the show again.

  
\---------------------------------

 

When midnight came, Jean went to the library to get Armin. He found he blond laying on the floor, using Beast as a pillow —  _So_ that’s _where this silly dog was!_  — and his legs were supported by the table.

 

The position was so weird Armin might have been confused with a life-size porcelain doll. His ivory skin, his perfect eyes and hair and those legs straightened up and slightly opened. The only things that indicated he was human were his eyes and stomach moving.

“What’s with this position?” Jean laughed, approaching the boy.

“Oh, hi! I just like reading like this.”

“Well, it’s midnight.” He said and saw the boy look at the clock.

“Ohh, can I take this book, please? I promise I will read only before bed. I just want to finish it.”

“Okay, okay, fine. But not today.” Jean took the book, closing it after putting a bookmark between the pages.

The boys walked to Jean’s bedroom — He made sure to leave the book in the library — and they chatted while playing cards for a long time until they were so sleepy the game was starting to get confusing.

“Argh, let’s go to bed. I’m not even thinking anymore.” Jean grabbed the cards, confessing.

“You’re just saying that because I’m winning.” Armin smiled, helping him.

“Oh, shut up!” He gave the blond a soft push. “So... Did you have fun at the library?”

“I did! Thank you so much for being so sweet and understanding. I... I don’t know why you want to date me, but... I’m really glad you do.” Armin held Jean’s hand, caressing it.

Jean was shocked. That perfect man thought _he_ was all those things? He must’ve been insane. 

“What are you talking about? You’re perfect. I should be the one saying this. You’re so smart and kind... I-...” He took a deep breath, gathering all his courage to say it. “I love you.”

Armin’s eyes widened as he stared at Jean. The brunet got embarrassed and turned his head to the side, blushing. Suddenly, he felt Armin pull him by his shirt’s collar and kiss him on the cheek.

“...I-... I love you too.” He heard the blond inhale for a moment before whispering.

Jean turned to him, surprised. He never imagined Armin would ever say those words to him. He held the blond’s face and kissed him, delicately scratching his lovely nape in the process.

When Jean tried to pull Armin closer, they fell on the bed but their kiss didn’t break. It continued until they were out of breath and Armin backed away, laying next to the other.

“I... I would like to sleep here tonight. I-If you are okay with it.” Armin didn’t raise his arms while he asked, but his grip on the brunet’s shirt tightened.

“O-Of course! I-I’d love that.” Jean pulled him closer and kissed his head before covering both bodies.

“Thank you.” It was all he said before they closed their eyes, ready to share a bed once again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this story and the awkward conversations between Jean and everyone. LOL!  
> (BTW, is "voulez-vous coucher avec moi" still a thing or I'm too old?)
> 
> PS: The last scene was totally inspired by a scene from a comic of [this perfect artist](http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=7096688). I forgot to say it on Armin's POV. Sorry! Anyway, check out the art. Is amazing!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~~In which there's a pool scene just because I wanted to put it there for the fluff (and the height difference fluff).~~  
>  In which we find out more about Jean's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna apologize for any mistakes. It's midnight and I'm STARTING to revise this text. orz  
> I just had to post it because it's been ready for a while and I like fast updates. Also, I'm going insane with college stuff. So... Yeah, I need a break. LOL!

The sunlight came though the window and woke Jean up. He had to rub his eyes with his left hand since his right arm was trapped under the blond laying by his side. Armin’s back were turned at Jean and his golden hair was thrown on the pillow, exposing his nape.

It was so easy, so tempting. Jean tried to resist, but it was his chance to finally kiss Armin’s deliciously pale nape. He slowly rolled over so he wouldn’t wake the boy up and supported himself on his left arm on the other side of the boy.

He gave the object of his desires a kiss. So soft Armin didn’t even move. He smiled and did it again, taking his time, using his lips to enjoy the softness of the boy’s skin, kissing it several times. One of them included a delicate lick that made a low moan come out of the blond's mouth.

"How long have you been awake?" Jean chuckled.

"One or two minutes." He told replied and Jean nearly melted.

_ And you were just enjoying,  weren't  you? At least is good to know I can do this anytime I want. _

Armin turned around to face him.

"Nooo, don't turn around! I've been dreaming with this nape since the day we met!"

"Are you serious?" Armin laughed, probably thinking it was a joke.

"Super serious. Finally kissing it is like a dream come true."

"J-Jean!" The blond’s cheeks turned red as he hid his face on Jean’s chest.

"What? It's the truth!"

"S-Shut up..."

"Hey, you wanna go for a swim?" He caressed Armin’s head.

"Swim? Like in a pool?" The blond looked up, excited.

"Yeah. Wanna go?”

"Yes!!! Yes I do!!! I didn't even know you had a pool!"

"I have one." Jean chuckled. "It's in the yard."

"Really?" Armin got up in a second and bent over the windowsill. "Wooah... Oh, wait! But I don’t have a bathing suit...”

"It’s fine, you can use mine.” Jean got up, taking one of his smallest trunks.

Armin wasted no time and ran to the bathroom to change. Jean changed as well and looked outside the window. The sun was shinning bright and it made him think about his boyfriend’s gorgeous white skin.

"Hey, Armin!” He shouted from the door.

"Yes?" The muffled reply came instantly.

"There’s sunblock inside the cabinet. Put it on. You’re way too white and we don’t want you toasting.”

He waited for a response but Armin got quiet.

_Weird._

After a while, Armin got out of the bathroom wearing Jean’s trunks and one of his shirts.

_Weird but sexy as fuck._

"Ready?” Jean asked.

"Ready!” Armin nodded, and both of them left the room.

Jean was doing his best not to stare at Armin but his eyes seemed to be glued to those pale legs.

_Fuck, he’s so hot. Look at him. I could touch those legs right now. Holy shit, those legs are mine to touch. First-day-of-college Jean would never believe he’d ever be this lucky in the future._

Erwin was waiting for them in the hall and when Jean blushed lightly when he noticed the man. Erwin was perspicacious and he  _ knew _ , for sure. 

"Good morning.” He gave them his usual smile. “Sir, have you checked what I requested?”

_Shit._

"Uhh... Yeah. He’ll need one.” He tried to pretend he hadn't left things to the last minute for once in his life.

"Very well.”

Erwin gave him that smirk and Jean’s only doubt was the reason. He wondered if it was because Erwin had seen him staring at Armin’s legs or because he knew Jean was lying. Maybe it was both.

"What was that about?” Armin asked, while he followed Jean into the left hallway.

"Your suit for the party.”

"I don’t need a suit, I brought one.”

"Well, now you’ll get a new one.”

"But Jean, I can not afford a new suit!”

"It’s fine, I’m paying.”

"But I don’t want you paying for things!” Armin suddenly took a few larger steps and stood in front of Jean.“I don’t want to be a burden to you, I just...”

"Armin, relax. You’re not  _ making _ me pay for anything, I’m doing so because I want to.” He caressed Armin’s cheek.

"I... I don’t-... Please, let me pay for it. For something.”

"Armin, look... I’m not trying to buy your love or anything. I just... I have money, okay? For now, at least. I won’t be rich in the future. My parents will, but I won't. I mean, come on! I’m gonna be a teacher, we’ll starve.” He chuckled, but the joke didn't seem to have much effect on Armin. “But I still wanna give you the best life I can. So, if I have money now, I wanna spend it on you. I’m not spending my parents money or anything. If you’re _ that _ uncomfortable I’ll stop, but I really wish I could give you stuff.”

"You can give me things. I will too. But... Give me a book, pay for junk food, pay for a movie ticket... Just don’t buy me suits, cellphones or dates with sea animals!” Armin held Jean’s hand and lowered it. “I loved all these things, I really did. But I don’t want to be the guy that makes you spend your money.”

Jean opened his mouth to retort. To say he wanted to spend money on Armin but the blond was faster.

“ _ Even _ if you want to give it to me.” He concluded. 

"Okay, fine. Even so, I still have to give you the suit. Erwin will kill me if I told him I don’t need it anymore. I should’ve asked you when you arrived.”

"Fine. But this is the last time, okay?”

"Alright.”

He agreed, entwining their fingers, but Armin looked at them for a moment before letting go.

"W-We should go...” The blond said with a low voice.

"Yeah, come on.” 

  
\---------------------------------

 

They walked to the pool and passed the fence. It had been put there for Jean and Marco when they were kids and it ended up being useful when they found out Beast loved to drink water mixed with chlorine.

Armin put his shoes by the lounge chair and walked to the edge of the pool, staring at it.

“ It’s deep!” 

“ WOAH!” Jean grabbed him, like he was going to throw the boy inside. “Watch out! You don’t wanna fall.” 

He laughed while Armin hit him several times on his arms.

“ YOU JERK!!! LET ME GO, YOU...!!!” 

Jean laughed, letting him go and threw himself on the pool. He waited for Armin but the boy just looked around and decided to use the stairs. When they got too deep, Armin just started swimming like a dog would.

“ ...Why are you swimming like this?” Jean chuckled. 

“ What? I’m just swimming. You have seen me when we met the beluga.”

“ Yeah, but I thought you were being logical. Like a ‘Don’t put your face underwater when there’s a three thousand pound sea animal by your side.’ sort of deal.”

“ No! I would never be afraid of that. I just...” Armin blushed, swimming to the edge to hold on to it.

“ So, you’re not afraid of a giant animal but... You’re afraid of diving?” 

Armin didn't answer, but he hid his face on his bent arms. The blond’s contradictions and thoughts made him so much more interesting to Jean. He thought of Armin as a puzzle he would spend the rest of his life trying to decipher.

“ Come here, I’ll help you.” Jean extended his hand to Armin.

“ N-No! I’m fine.” He quickly replied, grabbing to the edge.

“ Why? It’s much more fun if you dive. I swear, I won’t let you drown.” 

He smiled and Armin seemed to calm down. Jean held his hand and pulled him for a hug. He could feel the blond’s heart beating fast, so he caressed his head. Unfortunately, this only made Armin even more nervous and he noticed the boy looking at the house.

“ Relax, no one can see us. There’s that huge tree over there.” 

“ I-I’m sorry.” He lowered his head.

“ It’s fine. Listen, just hold on to me and hold your nose.”

“ What?”

“ Hold your nose. Tight.” He laughed at Armin’s skeptic expression. “I’m going to dive and get us back to surface, okay? Don’t open your mouth.”

“ What? Just like that???” 

“ Trust me.” 

He smiled and Armin stared at his eyes. The blond took a long breath and held his nose.

“ One, two,  _ three _ !”

Jean dove and Armin squeezed his body so hard he had a hard time coming back to the surface. When he did, Armin let go of his nose, breathing like he’d been out of breath for a full minute. His golden hair was glued to his head and his eyes widened.

“ See? You did it! It wasn't so bad, right?” Jean pushed Armin’s bangs back.

“ N-No!!! It was cool!” He laughed. “Scary, but cool!!! Do it again, do it again!” 

“ Okay, relax.” Jean laughed, waiting for Armin to hold his own nose again and dove.

They spent a few minutes doing that until Jean got tired. He sat on the stairs inside the pool and Armin was floating in front of him, using Jean’s legs to support himself. 

Jean taught him how to dive without holding his nose and laughed when Armin couldn't do it and choked. After they had enough “lessons”, Jean took Armin’s hand pulling him to the middle of the pool. The brunet’s head was still out of the water, but Armin's feet didn't touch the ground, so he had to hold on to Jean's neck. 

Jean smirked, diving once again and kissed the blond. Armin got a little nervous at first, but the kiss wasn't that long and they were soon back to the surface.

“ W-Wha-... T-That...” The blond was blushing violently.

“ Did you like it?” 

Armin didn’t answer but held Jean’s neck, kissing him on the cheek.

After a few minutes they started to play in the water until Erwin’s voice was heard.

"Mr. Kirstein is home.” It was all he said.

Jean looked at the device, running to it. 

"We’ll be right there!” He turned back to Armin. “Come on, come on! My father is home, you gotta meet him!”

He was so excited that waiting for Armin to squeeze his shirt and hair was almost like torture. They got into the hall and Jean saw his father standing there, talking to Erwin. Before he could notice, he had shouted and ran to the man, giving him a hug.

He missed his father so much. They had been away for months, but now he was home and Jean could actually hold him. The boy had to hold back his tears when he felt his father’s heavy hand on top of his head. It had been over six months since he’d felt that touch.

"Hey son! You went to the pool, didn't you?”

"Yeah...” Jean laughed, certain there was a complaint coming next. 

"And you  _ had  _ to hug me while you're still wet, didn't you?” 

"Yes, I did.”

_I knew it._

"You little bastard.” He used even more strength on the hug before letting him go. “Hey, who’s your friend?”

"Oh, right!” Jean remembered Armin was still standing there and felt a little embarrassed. “T-This is Armin! He’s my roommate from college!”

"Oh, I see. Nice to meet you, Armin.” His father extended his hand.

"H-H-Hello, S-Sir, Um- Mr. Kirstein.” Armin shook on it.

"HOLY SHIT, YOUR HAND IS  _ FREEZING _ !!! Are you okay???”

"DAD!!!” Jean shouted, covering his face. “His... His hands are always like this, he’s fine!”

"If you say so... Well, we should have lunch, I’m starving!” As usual the man returned to his normal behavior, walking to the dinning room. 

After the boys changed, they joined him and Jean realized how much he missed this as well. Every moment with his father was amazing. Even Armin felt comfortable enough to confess he and Jean were dating and Jean hoped they’d bond even more from now on.

  
\---------------------------------

 

Days later Jean caught Armin and his father sitting on the sofa, seeing his own childhood pictures. He was chubby as a kid and it was embarrassing to let Armin see those, but when they got to the pictures of his teenage years, Jean wanted to crawl up to a hole and die.

There were only a few pictures and Jean wasn't smiling on any of them. Those were the years he wanted to keep a secret from Armin. When he and Marco were kids Jean was an angry little boy, but he was just a kid, so people just thought he was grumpy. But as he grew up his anger started to become worse.

When he started puberty, his hormones, mixed with that anger, drove him crazy from time to time. So much he nearly got arrested once for beating up a boy that pissed him off. His father came to an agreement with the kid’s parents and they didn't press charges. 

Even so, Jean could remember his father’s look. It was a mix of anger and disappointment that sent a shiver down the boy’s spine. “I’m giving you  _ one  _ chance. If you do it again, I’ll let you rot in jail.”, it was all his father said before leaving Jean standing on the hall. His mother didn't even say anything, but he could remember her pale expression and red eyes on the following days.

He’d never forget that, and he feared Armin would find out about it one day. Armin was so kind he’d never hurt a fly. And even though Jean had changed, he still feared one day he might hurt someone again and leave Armin alone while he spent the rest of his life in a prison cell.

However, his father didn’t say anything while they looked at those pictures, and Armin didn’t ask questions. He was safe for now.

  
\---------------------------------

  
  


When they arrived at the party Jean followed the agreement he’d made with his mother years ago: Jean would be a perfect gentleman and talk politely with everyone at the party and his parents would host a second party for the youngsters. 

It was a fine deal, but this time, unfortunately, he had to drag poor Armin into it. Even so, the blond didn't seem to mind since he was closely watching everything and everyone in the room. 

They left the house after a while and walked to the small house where the second party was happening. He danced and Armin did something that was supposed to be a dance. It was funny because he took small steps from one side to another while his body was completely frozen. 

Marco arrived a few minutes later with Mina and Jean was not uncomfortable, despite not being a great fan of the couple before. When Marco told him he didn't really understand, but when he saw the two of them arriving together he realized they were a cute couple after all. Mina was a nice girl and Marco deserved her as much as she deserved him.

The freckled boy soon started to make fun of Armin for his lousy dancing skills and grabbed the blond’s waist, shaking it. It was such a ridiculous sight. Armin was still hard as a rock, but his hips were forcefully moving while he tried to stop laughing and take Marco’s hands off him.

When midnight came, Jean pulled Marco outside. They had planned to go to the kitchen and steal a couple bottles of champagne. They got in through the greenhouse by the side of the kitchen and Marco distracted the waiter with his smooth talk while Jean took the bottles. 

They got out in less than two minutes but they found Levi outside, smirking at them.

“ Hello, boys.” 

“ ...Fuck.” Jean sighed. “Marco, take the money from by pockets, please.”

Marco took a few bills and gave them to Levi. The man counted them and looked at the freckled boy.

“ What about you?” Levi asked.

“ Why do I have to bribe you?” Marco replied.

“ Because you’re  _ also _ a rich spoiled brat and _my_ wife deserves a new necklace.” Levi replied, putting the money in his pocket.

“ A billion drivers on this earth and your parents had to hire  _ this guy _ . Un-fucking-believable.” Marco took out a few more bills and handed it over to the man.

“ Enjoy your booze, brats.” He put the rest of the money away and left.

The boys went back to the house and told Mina and Armin to follow them to the back of the party house. Jean started to prepare the bottle to try a new trick with the knife Marco had taken from the kitchen while they left.

"Where did you get that?” Mina stared at Jean, nervous. 

"I stole it from the kitchen.” He said, making the final preparations.

"Oh my God. I’m so getting fired after this party.”

"Relax.” Marco kissed her, giving Jean the knife. “Are you sure you can do this?”

"Yeah, don’t worry. Shut up, it’s almost New Year!” Jean replied quickly, getting into position after shaking the bottle.

The DJ started the countdown and Jean accompanied, but focusing on the his task.

"Three, two, one... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”

With a swift move Jean removed the cork.

"Ha!!! Take that, freckles!!! Told you I could do it!” He handed it to Marco a little more roughly than he expected.

"You did!” Marco chuckled and took a gulp from the bottle before passing it to Mina.

The girl did the same and handed it to Jean being pulled by the waist by Marco, who gave her a kiss. Jean repeated their actions but he wasn't expecting anything from Armin. He watched the boy drink and quickly glance at the couple beside them before he looked back at Jean.

Before the brunet could even realize he felt the hair on the back of his head being firmly held and Armin’s lips were on his. He reacted on instinct, parting his lips when he felt the blond’s tongue touch them. When he realized what was happening he grabbed Armin’s waist, deepening their kiss.

There was no better way to start the year. 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I ended up pulling the Isayama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (EDIT: I updated the Warnings Tags! Please check it out! I'm really sorry I forgot to do it as soon as I posted. )

When the sun came out Jean was surprised to see how much of light drinker Armin actually was. The boy got drunk just from the champagne they’d shared. Still, the brunet dragged him to Levi’s house, inside the premises. They were drunk, so waking Levi up _just_ after he went to bed seemed like an awesome revenge (and not childish _at all_ ).

The group knocked on Levi’s door and the man took a long time to answer. When he finally did, he was shirtless, his pants seemed to have been put on two seconds ago and his hair was a mess.

“What the fuck do you want?” He looked furious.

“Who was he again? Ohhh, yeaaah... The driver. How can you forget the driver? He nearly killed you.” Armin suddenly said, squinting at Levi, making everyone laugh. “Why is everyone laughing? ”

The blond was so confused.

“... Dude... You got laid?” Jean asked Levi. “It was the necklace, wasn’t it?”

“...Yes. I took the money from you and left the party _just_ to buy a fucking necklace. And yes, this is the only reason my wife and I would fuck. Go to sleep you drunken brats.”

“Funny word. Brats. Braaaaats. ” Armin said and everyone laughed again.

“Listen to me you little fucks, if you ever come to my house again I’ll fucking kill you. And give blondie a coffee or something for fuck’s sake.” Levi slammed the door and the group decided to go back to the house. This had been enough of a revenge.

“ My father can’t find out we’re drunk, okay?” Armin seemed extremely distracted so Jean held the boy’s face and said it slowly.

“Ookie dookie.” Armin moved his finger to something that probably should be an “OK” sign, but it wasn’t quite right. “ ...Anything you say, sexy.”

Jean rolled his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Marco and Mina bit their lips so they wouldn’t laugh again.

“Ohh, we’re so fucked. Let’s go. Bye, guys!” Jean waved at the couple, who did the same.

“Bye, Mina! Bye Marco.” Armin said in a whisper.

Jean took the boy’s hand and walked as fast as possible.

“Ohh, these halls are so pretty.”

__This isn’t gonna work._ _

“Armin, please remember: I need you to be quiet.” He turned his face around, without stopping.

Armin furrowed his eyebrows, nodding like he understood the message and put his index finger in front of his face. Unfortunately, he missed his mouth and put it in front of his cheek.

“Boys?” Jean heard his mother say.

__Fuck._ _

“ Who is this???” Armin asked, like he was scared of the sudden “voice from the beyond”.

_Double fuck._

“Hey mom, dad...”

“Oh, look. It's Edmund. Oh Edmund, you’re so hot. _So_ hot. No wonder your son is this fine sample of a man.”

Jean blushed violently, staring at Armin just like everyone else in the room. His father rose his eyebrows, staring at the brunet.

“How did you get him drunk?” He asked.

“... We took two bottles from the kitchen last night.” There was no use lying. “W-We just wanted to celebrate! I swear, he’s just a light drinker.”

“Heeeeeeeeey!!!” Armin protested, pouting and nearly falling to the side when he turned to Jean.

Jean’s father rolled his eyes, staring at Armin.

“Go to your room, we’ll talk later.”

Jean nodded and pulled Armin to follow him up the stairs.

“Oh, Edmund, this is no punishment. There are only kisses and making out in his room! And _friction_.”

Jean had now turned into a tomato. His whole body burned with embarrassment while he grabbed Armin’s arm with all his strength and ran to his bedroom with the boy, hoping his parents wouldn’t have listened to the whole thing.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? ??” He shouted, as soon as he shut the door, after throwing the boy on the bed. Good thing every bedroom in the house was soundproof. “WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU SAY THAT TO MY FATHER??? I TOLD YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND YOU-...”

“Jean, you’re so fine. Sooooo fine. I could just lick you. What if I _did_ lick you?”

Jean stood there, his mouth hanging for a second before he remembered to shout.

“STOP TURNING ME ON, I’M TRYING TO BE MAD AT YOU!!!”

“What a great idea. I wonder if other people thought of this. Licking someone else. I’m so clever.” And then, Armin fell completely on the bed, blacked out.

“You little fuck, you piece of shit, I wanna kick your fucking white ass so bad right now. Fuck, fuck fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!!!” Jean sat by his side, still a little angry, taking deep breaths.

At times like this he wished Armin wasn't so perfect. Maybe this way he could actually get angry at him.  


  
\---------------------------------

  


Later, that night they had dinner but Armin acted normal. He probably didn’t remember anything he’d done, and Jean honestly thought it was better this way.

The next day the boys went back to the dorm and Levi was still angry at them. Jean could see that for the way he nearly killed everyone in the car as he hit the breaks and the way he left, dashing through the streets.

The trio met Reiner and Bertolt accompanied by a short, blonde girl.

“Heeey, it’s Barbie, Ken, and their lovechild Freckles!” Reiner mocked.

__I fucking hate this guy._ _

“Screw you.” Marco laughed and approached them.

“Need any help?” Reiner quickly got up, taking Armin’s suitcase.

_No. No, no, no, you little shit! He’s mine now!!!_

Jean wanted to say these words, but he couldn't.

“Oh, i-it’s fine!” Armin quickly tried to take the suitcase back.

“Wow, this is so light! I take half my home with me, so mine is always heavy.” Reiner ignored him and entered the dorms.

“So, um... Armin, I have something for you, would you mind coming to my room?”

_ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS???_

“Oh, not at all. But what is it?”

… _ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS, ARMIN??? CAN’T YOU SEE HE’S TRYING TO GET INTO YOUR PANTS??? NO!!! HE CAN’T GO THERE BEFORE I DO! NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!!!_

“Well, I ended up taking a while to finish your birthday present, so... I wanna give it to you.” Reiner scratched his cheek, like he was embarrassed.

_You lying piece of shit._

“Oh, thank you Reiner! But you didn’t have to!”

“No problem. I wanna give it to you!”

_Of course you do. You wanna give him to him good, don’t you? You lousy fuck. Well, that’s not happening. Not today._

“Can I go to? I wanna see it.” Jean quickly asked.

“Um... Yeah, sure.” Reiner seemed a bit annoyed, but he agreed.

They got to the boy’s room and he took a small package from the desk, handing it to Armin.

“Happy Late-As-Fuck Birthday!” He chuckled.

“Um... Thank you.” Armin smiled sweetly and opened the box.

When he took it out of the package, Jean could see it was a tiny robot that looked like Armin.

_You little fuck I invented that move!!! Mine was in a game, but still!!!_

“Ohh, Reiner, this is so cute!”

_Oh my God, I can’t believe he’s falling for this shit._

“I’m glad you liked it.” Reiner smiled at him. “And check this out.”

He took the little robot from Armin’s hands and put it on the desk, he turned it on and clapped his hands. The robot started to move his hips and this would have made Jean laugh because he _actually_ danced just like the  Armin.

“Oh my God, he’s dancing!!! Jean, look at him!!!” The shorter boy looked so happy and excited that made Jean angry again. “Where did you get it?”

“Well, I made it. Actually, Bert and I made it. Without him it would be __impossible_ _ _._ ” Reiner confessed.

“Ooown, thank you so much! He’s adorable! But you really didn't have to!” And then Armin hugged him.

Jean called Reiner every curse in the book to avoid punching him right in the face. 

“How the fuck did you make it?” He decided to ask, remembering Reiner didn’t know how to make this kind of thing.

“Well, I had to learn something in college, right?” Reiner laughed.

“What are you talking about? You’re majoring in P.E.!” Jean got even angrier.

“...Says who?” Reiner asked.

“S-Says... You!” Jean pointed at his body.

“...Yeah, right... I’m in Mechanical Engineering, dude.”

“...Oh. Really?”

“Really.” Reiner laughed at him. “Oh, by the way, I know it’s early but have you guys decided where you’re going for Spring Break? We’re thinking about going to the beach in Trost.”

“T-The beach?” Armin turned to Reiner in a second.

“Yeah.” Reiner chucked. “You guys wanna come with us?”

“Yes!!!” He turned to Jean. “We can go, right???”

“...Fine.”

Jean was still angry, but seeing Armin’s excitement, and considering Trost was the place he was born, he thought it might be a good idea after all.

“Alright. We’re thinking about going there in two cars and renting two hotel rooms. So we’ll share the expenses.” Reiner told them.

“My parents have a beach house there. I’ll try asking them.” Jean commented, not facing the boys.

“Are you serious? That’d be great, man. Thanks!” Reiner gave him a small pat on the back, smiling and Jean thought about punching him again.

  
\---------------------------------

  


In the following weeks Reiner seemed to calm down. Maybe he was planning something in Trost, but Jean would be there, ready to be the biggest cock block on earth.

The group had been accommodated in the house while Reiner, Bertolt and Annie went shopping. Armin was inside, letting Krista play with his hair while they watched TV with Ymir. Jean sat outside, by the pool, with Marco. Their feet inside it while they chatted.

“And that’s why I’m telling you... Everyone knows, dude.” Marco said.

“Come ooon. You’re just saying it because _you_ know it.”

“You got into the water together and I bet a million bucks you kissed when you dove.”

“What? How the fuck do you know _that_?”

“You just told me.” He chuckled.

“Fuck you, cocksucker.” Jean punched him in the arm, chuckling.

“Jean, how many times do I have to explain this to you? This is your thing.” Marco explained, faking a tired expression.

“Oh! Oh! Actually, it really is!” Jean smiled.

“...You just realized this now? I know it since you were fourteen.”

“No, no, listen. It reeeally is.” He said, slowly, nodding his head to indicate the inside of the house.

“No fucking way. Are you serious??? He let you do it???”

“...Define ‘let’.” Jean wasn’t sure.

“Oh my God, what the fuck did you do to the poor boy? Do I have to punch you in the face?”

“No, it’s not like that! He agreed, he said ‘yes’ but... I don’t think he really knew what I was gonna do and... I think he got a little scared. And by that I mean ‘nearly had a mental breakdown’.”

“...Dude get’s a fucking blowjob and complains. Un-fucking-believable.”

“It was frustrating at the time but... Looking back, it was so funny.” Jean laughed. “He freaked out so much he made me brush my teeth three times, with him watching carefully to see if I was doing it right.”

“Oh my God. He’s so awkward.” Marco laughed too, picturing the scene.

“He is!” Jean laughed. “But it was awesome. He’s so fucking sexy, man. Ugh! I’m gonna marry him. I don’t even care about anything else. Even if we have to live under a bridge, I’ll marry him.”

“Geez, man, control your gay.” Marco laughed. “Still, I hope you marry him. He’s a weirdo, but so are you. You’re made for each other.”

“Fuck you!” Jean laughed, giving Marco a light punch on the stomach. “But yeah, he’s a weirdo. He’s _my_ weirdo.”

  
\---------------------------------

  
Hours later, the group had decided to go to bed. Armin was brushing his teeth while Marco and Jean sat on the floor, chatting. Jean had a chocolate bar in his hands and was carefully enjoying it.

Chocolate was one of his addictions. The only thing that tasted better than chocolate were Armin’s kisses. But those had an emotional side attached to them, so it wasn’t a fair fight for the chocolate.

“Hmm... This is so fucking good.”

“My God, get a room.” Marco rolled his eyes, changing the channels on the TV. “You have some on your face.”

“I _am_ in a room. And I bet you wanna lick it.”

“Ohhh yeeeah. Nothing would make me happier.” Marco sarcastically said, chuckling.

“Come ooon, I know you dooo...” Jean ate the rest of the bar, leaning himself towards Marco, making the other boy almost lay on the ground.

“Oh my God, get off me!!!” Marco punched him in the arm, laughing.

“Come oooooon, liiiiick it!” Jean laughed as well, putting even more weight on Marco.

“No, get off me, you queer!” Marco was trying to push him away. “I told you I’m allergic to your gay germs!!!”

“You dooooo, come oooon!” Jean fought to get closer.

“No!!! I- Hey, Armin!”

Jean turned to see his boyfriend on the door, staring at them, once again thinking intensely about something. Jean got closer, waving his hand in front of him.

“Armin? Armiiiiin? Are you okay?”

“W-Wha-? I-I-...” Armin blushed and glimpsed down for a second.

Jean followed his actions and realized there was a small tent forming in his boyfriend's pants. Marco got up and passed them, which made Jean hug Armin instantly so the other wouldn’t see it.

“I’m going to brush my teeth, don’t make out on my side of the bed, please.” Marco asked in a whisper.

“We’ll try.” He assured his friend. “Now, what’s _that_ for?”

He chuckled, turning his eyes to the front of Armin’s pants once again.

“I-I’m so sorry! I don’t know, I swear!” The blond was so nervous he was shaking a little.

“A-About what??? That??? I’m just asking! I’m not judging you!” Jean never thought he’d react like that.

“I-I just saw you two and...I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m sorry!”

“Armin, calm down. It’s fine. You’re attracted to men, and... Well, Marco is a fine piece of ass.”

“Jean!!!”

“What??? He’s my friend, I’d never have romantic feelings for him, but that doesn’t make me __blind_ _. He’s hot as fuck and his chest is soft like a pillow.” He shrugged.

“Really?!” Armin said with much more enthusiasm than Jean expected.

“Hey! Show a little less interest.” Jean poked him on the side of his body, mostly to make fun of him, partially out of pure jealousy. “My point is, even though we’re not doing anything, your imagination isn't dead and neither is your body. Relax.”

“H-How can I? How can I even face him now, Jean?”

“Ugh...” Jean sat on the bed, pulling Armin to sit beside him. “Look, I’m gonna tell you something but you can’t ever tell anyone. You hear?”

“Okay...”

“When I was.... When I was fifteen I was a little... Um... Bold and... Horny.”

It was the less shocking way to tell Armin. His fourteen years were the start of the troublesome part of his life: his anger issues made him feel frustrated and lost all the time. That was until he found a way to forget all of his problems in the arms of his nineteen year old boyfriend.

After the relationship ended, Jean had to search for other people to suppress his needs, which lead him to a _supposedly_ secret life of promiscuity. Of course, rumors spread faster than fire, specially when you’re rich and popular. So his love life didn’t remain a secret for long. But for now, Armin didn't need to know about any of that.

“WHAT???”

“Shush. Hear me out. I was like this all the time. And I had this huuuuuge crush on Erwin.”

“Yes, you told me that.”

“Will you shut the fuck up and let me tell the story?” Armin made the cutest pout and got quiet. “Thank you. Now, where was I? I... Um... I once decided I would seduce him... So I...” Jean was could feel his cheeks burning more and more by the second. “So I had the amazing idea of... Cornering him inside the butler’s pantry and...”

Armin’s jaw was nearly touching the floor at this point.

“...Take off my clothes.” He continued.

“OH MY GOD!!!” Armin covered his mouth with both hands, shocked.

“I-I know!!! God, this is so embarrassing.” Jean was hiding his face on his hands. “He was so shocked he just pressed the button on the intercom and looked up, raising his hands so no one would assume he was the one doing something to me! It was a mess. My mother nearly ripped off my head and my father apologized to Erwin for a week!!!”

“Oh my God, you’re so creepy!” Armin was laughing so much his stomach hurt.

“My point is: If I can face Erwin everyday after that, you can face Marco.”

“I sure can! I could probably take off his pants and it would still be less embarrassing than this story!!!”

“You- You are a horrible boyfriend. You’re like... The worst boyfriend. Ever.”

“Who cares? You tried to seduce your butler!” Armin was laughing so hard he fell on the bed, his hands pressing his stomach.

“Hey, I was a stupid, horny kid!!!” Jean threw himself on top of the blond and gave him punches so soft and slow even Armin could stop them. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Jean gave him a kiss.

They got closer and were almost lost in each other’s mouths when a recognizable knock came from the door. Jean and Marco had this knock ever since they were kids. They've created so they’d know when the other was at the door.

Jean gave Armin another kiss and got up, letting Marco in. The freckled boy gave him a look he knew very well. The look that said “I know what you were doing, you little shit.”, and Jean had to contain his chuckle.

They got ready for bed and Jean turned off the lights, laying between the two boys. He knew it would be more comfortable for both of them like this, since they weren’t that close. What he didn’t expect was to see Armin’s perfect sleepy expression mixed with the moonlight being reflected on his golden hair.

He just looked so wonderful Jean couldn’t resist. He took the blanket and completely covered himself and Armin, giving him a kiss. The blond didn’t back away, so Jean took it as a sign to deepen the kiss, pulling the other closer, by the waist.

He was starting to get excited when he remembered poor Marco sleeping by their side. No one wants to sleep next to a couple that keeps making out, so Jean decided to take one of the pillows and pull Armin outside, to the balcony.

The breeze coming from the ocean felt amazing, specially in such a warm night. Jean threw the pillow on the floor and laid there, pulling Armin by the hand.

“Come here. No one can see us.” Jean told him.

Armin took a look around, probably to check if no one could see them and laid on top of Jean, placing his head on the brunet’s chest. Jean could see his eyes fixated on the shore, so he caressed the boy’s head with his left hand, so he wouldn’t block the view.

Being with Armin was so different. Every little thing they did together seemed to get a new meaning. He’d been in this house a million times. He and Marco would play on the pool, run around the house, even sit together on that same balcony, staring at that same ocean. But this time it was different. The kind of love he felt for Armin was different. It wasn’t the same as he felt for his parents, Marco, not even his other boyfriends. He knew this guy would have his heart for the rest of his life, no matter what.

  
\---------------------------------

 

Jean remembered waking up in the middle of the night, freezing. Marco and Armin were whining about something, but he didn’t listen. All he knew was that he woke up wearing one of Marco’s shirts.

The day was cold and rainy, which kept the group from going to the beach as they’d planned. Jean could see Armin was a little disappointed, so he decided to take everyone to a great cafeteria, for breakfast.

They ended up meeting another group and got invited to a party at night. They took the opportunity to go shopping and walk around town for the day.

  
\---------------------------------

 

When they got to the club Jean was amazed by the power of a hot girl like Ymir wearing a short and tight dress. The guard didn't even check the groups IDs, since he was too busy staring at Ymir's awesome ass, which she made sure to shake as much as possible. She must be having so much fun making a fool out of them.

After they got in, Reiner and Ymir headed straight to the dance floor, dragging poor Bertolt with them. Marco, Jean, Armin, Krista and Annie sat on the bar to have a few drinks. Jean had drank a few before Marco asked them if they wanted to dance. Annie and Krista refused, and Armin didn’t even have to. Dancing was not his thing. Jean felt guilty about leaving the boy, but the blond quickly assured him it would be okay.

“Go on. I'm fine over here.” He smiled, taking a sip from his drink.

“Are you sure?" Jean asked, to make sure he didn’t mind.

“Yes, yes. I have Krista and Annie. Apparently blond people don't dance.” He laughed.

“Thanks." Jean chuckled and left with Marco.

The boys were dancing when Jean saw Armin leaving the club, a few minutes later, accompanied by Krista. The blond boy pointed at the door and clearly moved his lips to say something like “Be right back”. Jean nodded and made the "OK" sign.

The couple wasn’t gone for long before Jean noticed a short, bald boy shouting at the club’s security guard, pointing outside. The guard just shrugged and said something to the boy that made him even angrier.

Jean had a bad feeling, so he gave Marco’s arm a pull and got closer. The boy was trying to get some big guy to do something.

“Come on, you gotta help them!!!” The short boy said.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jean asked.

“You guys are together? You gotta help me, man, there are two girls getting beaten up outside! I can’t help them! There are three dudes and I’m all alone!”

“WHAT???” Jean left the club and looked around.

He could see the commotion far away, so he ran.

_Calm down. It can’t be him. Two girls. It doesn’t matter that he looks like one. He’s in boy’s clothes, right? It can’t be him. Please don’t be him._

When Jean approached he could clearly see Krista’s pink and white dress, dirty from her being dragged by the hair by one of the guys. Jean’s was boiling with anger, but nothing compared to what he felt when he saw what was happening beside Krista.

He recognized Armin’s golden locks, stained with blood and attached to something that once was his head. At the time, the blond’s face was a swollen mess, being mercilessly punched by one guy who sat on his stomach.

Jean saw the third guy, holding a pipe against Armin’s calf and kick the boy’s knee. The cracking sound acted like a bell in a boxing match and when Jean realized he was a few inches above the ground, his fist directed at the man’s face.

When the punched hit, the man fell, instantly unconscious, and his friend stared at Jean with a terrified expression. The brunet took his head and shoved it against the wall numerous times before the blood made it slip and the man fell on the ground, as unconscious as his friend.

Even so, Jean couldn’t help it. His mind wasn’t working properly anymore. He continued to punch the man’s face until his own was hit by someone, throwing him to the side.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING???” Marco was the one by his side, shaking the hand he’d used to hit Jean. “ARE YOU INSANE??? YOU’RE GONNA KILL HIM!!!”

“WHAT ABOUT ARMIN???” Jean protested, grabbing the collar of Marco’s shirt.

“KILLING THIS ASSHOLE WON’T HELP HIM!!!”

“GUYS, STOP FIGHTING AND GET IN THE FUCKIN’ CAR!!!” Reiner was shouting from the front seat, where he sat with Krista on his lap. She was crying and hiding his face on the blond’s chest.

Bertolt was on the driver’s seat, giving Reiner’s car keys to Ymir. The bald guy from before was staring at Armin, in shock.

“Baldie here called the cops, you gotta leave.” Annie said. “Bert will take him to the hospital.”

Jean took Armin by his shoulders, while Annie helped, keeping the boy’s head in place. Marco took his legs and Ymir held his waist, so they would avoid even more damage. The girls got out of the car and Bertolt drove as fast as he could to the hospital.

Jean had Armin’s head on his lap and he could feel the pool of blood being formed on his pants. His hands were shaking as he took one of them from the blond’s head and realized they were completely covered by his boyfriend’s blood.

The brunet fell tears running through his face as he tried to wake up the other.

“...A-Armin... Armin, please... D-Don’t die... Y-You can’t die, please. I love you. I-I love you so much, please...”

“We-...We’re here.”

Bertolt’s soft voice turned Jean’s attention to the building by their side. Krista insisted Reiner put her down and help Armin, so the four boys carried the smaller one inside. The staff put him on a stretcher and took him away.

“Please take care of him...” Jean tried to say, but it came out only as a whisper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of this chapter is so fun and happy I almost feel bad for the ending. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story despite everything... I'm sorry.  
> Anyway, thank you very much for reading.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean cries a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm, I should say there are some sensitive medical subjects on this chapter, so I hope you guys don't mind.
> 
> Have a good reading!

Jean sat on the couch at the hospital hall, holding a pack of cold water against his punched cheek. There was ice inside of it once, but he’d been waiting for so long for the doctors to finish Armin’s treatment that it ended up melting. The rest of the group was waiting outside, including Krista, who was discharged after treating a few minor injuries.

The doctor approached him, holding Armin’s file after a while.

“Are you Mr. Arlert’s friend? The one who brought him here?” He asked.

“Y-Yeah! It’s me! I-I’m Jean. Is... Is he okay?” Jean got up in a second, trying not to shake.

“Well, he’s really lucky to have friends like you. You brought him just in time to save his life, that’s for sure.” Jean could see the doctor was trying to make things easier by the way he lowered his eyes. “Even so, his injuries were really severe and... He’s currently in a coma.”

The word felt like a knife to his chest Jean felt his heart drop. His legs lost all strength and he fell on the couch again.

“I know this is hard to hear, but that doesn't mean he’s never going to wake up. We’ll have to wait a few weeks to get a better idea of his condition.”

“What else?” Marco approached them at that moment. “I’m one of his friends.”

“Um... Well, his head was obviously injured, his jaw and nose were broken and he also has a few contusions but I believe they’ll heal soon.”

Jean felt his heart ache with every word that came out of the doctor’s mouth. He would have cried if he still had any tears left on his body.

“I see...” Marco replied, putting his head on Jean’s head.

“There’s something else: his anterior cruciate ligament was torn. It’s one of the major ligaments on the knee, so... I believe a few months of physical therapy will be enough to heal, but in the worst case scenario he’ll need surgery. Is he active? Does he practice sports or heavy exercise?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I see. In this case that’s a good thing. He probably won’t need any surgery. Let’s wait a few weeks and see how everything goes. We’ve done all we could.”

“O-Okay... T-Thank you, doctor. Can we go see him?”

“Since it’s only you two for now, it’s okay. But when his parents arrive, you’ll have to leave. We can only allow two people to have access to the patient.”

“Grandfather. It’s just his grandfather. So can one of us stay?” Marco pleaded and Jean knew that tone. He even knew what expression Marco was using to get what he wanted.

“...If his grandfather allows it, yes.” The doctor hesitated at first, but ended up allowing it.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, doctor. Come on, Jean.”

Jean didn’t reply. He got up instinctively and followed Marco. When he got in he could see Armin’s head and face, covered with bandages while countless tubes were attached to his body.

Jean sat on the chair beside the bed, staring at his boyfriend. He remembered Marco saying something, but he didn't listen. And then his friend left.

  
\---------------------------------

 

Jean was woken up by Marco, in the morning. His whole body hurt, so he adjusted himself on the armchair.

“Jean, go home. Change.” Marco asked.

“I won’t leave.” He replied instantly.

“...Fine. I’ll bring you some clothes.” Marco sighed. “Have you called Armin’s grandfather?”

“No.”

“Have you called your dad?”

“No.”

“Have you called Pastor Nick?”

“No.”

“Call him. I’ll call the other two.”

“Why?”

Marco turned at him with a look an incredulous expression.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You nearly killed the guy! You gotta call the pastor!”

“I won’t. He deserved it. I hope he dies.”

“So that’s it?! You’re going back to your teenage years?!” Marco stood before him, making a fist.

“Marco, shut the fuck up! I’m not calling anyone, okay? I won’t leave this room, I won’t move until he does!!!”

“You are going to FUCKING call the pastor RIGHT NOW or I swear to God I’ll-...”

“What? What exactly are you going to do? Huh?”

“...You know what? Fuck you. You wanna go back to the way it was before? Do it. But if you do, I won’t be there to help you like last time.”

“...Whatever.”

Jean felt a strong pain on his chest, but decided to ignore Marco’s words. The freckled boy opened his mouth, but gave up on speaking and left the room.

  
\---------------------------------

 

Jean spent the next two days sitting on that same chair. He would occasionally be visited by Marco, who would sneak him some food and coffee, but neither of them would look or say a word to each other.

The nurses would also come from time to time and try to convince Jean from leaving, but he wouldn't. If it was possible, he wouldn't even go to the bathroom, afraid Armin could wake up alone.

That was until Armin’s grandfather arrived. He was old, so it took him a couple days to make the trip. Jean knew he wouldn't complain about him being in the room because Edmund had been paying for his precious grandson’s treatment, but still, the look he gave Jean was just as bad as yelling at him.

“You stink. Go home and take a shower.” He said before taking the second chair near the bed, holding Armin’s hand.

Jean thought it would be better to leave and not have an argument. The doctor had told him to act as if Armin could hear everything, so Jean decided to avoid a scene. He got closer, holding the blond’s hand and giving it a little tap with the other — just to pretend there were no other feelings beside friendship involved — and told Armin he’d be back soon.

  
\---------------------------------

 

When he left the hospital it seemed like he’d passed through a portal to another dimension. The hospital smell was gone and he had to admit Armin’s grandfather was right. He stank.

He took a cab back to the house to find Krista and Ymir curled up on the couch, watching TV with Reiner, while Bertolt and Annie were preparing lunch. The whole group stopped their activities to look at Jean, who quickly made his way to the second floor.

After he took a shower and changed his clothes he got back down.

“Where’s Marco?” He’d spent so much time without saying a single word that his voice was a little hoarse.

“He’s outside, by the pool.” Krista replied.

Jean nodded and was making his way outside when he heard the girl’s soft voice again.

“Jean! Is-...Is he okay?” She sounded guilty.

Jean didn’t know how to answer. He wouldn't die, but he could be in a coma forever. He could never wake up again. That thought created an intense pressure on his heart, strong enough to make tears come to his eyes. He decided to go outside without a word before he started crying and worried his friends even more.

Marco was sitting in a long chair, having a beer by himself, staring at the sky. Jean sat on the second long chair, beside his.

“Can I have a sip?” He asked, his voice as low as possible.

Marco didn’t reply, but gave him the bottle. Jean took the requested sip and returned the bottle.

“...If I sleep here tonight, will you be there?”

“There’s only one bed left.” Jean knew his was Marco’s way of saying “yes” when he was angry.

“I’ll call him. Tonight.”

Marco threw his head back, letting out a big sigh and a small smile.

“Thank you.” He said.

“No. Thank you.” Jean held his hand. “F-For being there for me, for helping me even when I got myself in the worst situations. I can never repay the things you've done for me during my stupid life.”

“Yes, you can. You can do it by calling the fucking pastor when I tell you to. By controlling yourself so you don’t end up killing someone. I know you have your anger issues, I know it’s hard to control it, but that’s why you _have_ to talk to someone. And I’m not fit for this job.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Jean sighed, staring at the sky.

A few minutes passed, in silence.

“Now let go of my hand, people will think we’re queer.” Marco finally said, smiling.

“But I _am_ queer.” Jean chuckled, letting go of his hand.

“That’s entirely _your_ problem, sir.” Marco took another sip of his beer, chuckling as well.

“It wasn't a problem for you on that cold night in the mountains.”

“...We've never been in the mountains.” Marco turned his head to face him, confused.

“... _That’s_ what’s wrong with the sentence? Seriously?” Jean did the same, raising one eyebrow.

“...Fuck, I’m really turning gay.” Marco laughed and it made Jean do the same. 

  
\---------------------------------

 

When the night came, Jean had called the hospital five times to check on Armin’s condition. He wasn't comfortable calling the blond’s grandfather, but apparently he would need to do so since the hospital had forbidden him to call again.

Marco sat on the bed while Jean decided to sit on the balcony to call Pastor Nick. He sat on the floor, leaning against the glass door.

“Hello?” Said the voice on the other side of the line.

“Hey-...Hey, pastor. It’s Jean Kirstein.”

“Oh, hi, Jean. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, I know... I... I need your help. I... I hurt someone again.”

Jean heard a sigh.

“What happened?”

“Well, I...I met someone. Someone really special. I-...I wanna be with him for the rest of my life. He’s... He’s everything to me. And I’m not being fooled this time. I _know_ he loves me back. He’s so honest and kind. He would _never_ lie to me about something like this. Even Marco and my parents like him!”

“I see... That’s good, Jean. Keep this person close to you.”

“Yeah, but-... That’s the thing.” He could feel the tears rolling down his face again. “I might never be able to talk to him again... Because some asshole beat him up so hard he’s in a coma.”

There was a silent before a low sigh and a kind “Oh, Jean...”

“I just got so angry I couldn't control myself. They were beating him up with a _pipe_! There's a chance he might even need a knee surgery! I-I got so angry I had a fight with Marco. Everything is fine now, but...”

“I’m glad to hear everything is okay between you two now. You need his support in this difficult time. Also, remember you’re _never_ alone. God is _always_ with you. Have you talked to Him recently?”

“...No.” He confessed.

“Why not?”

“Because... Because you said to turn to him in times of need. But-...” He choked on those words. “Ever since Armin came into my life, there’s nothing else I need in this world. He was the only thing missing in my life.”

“Jean, you _must_ turn to Him, specially now. He’ll help you, and you _must_ remember this: Everything he does has a meaning. Even the bad things.”

“Y-Yeah... I know.” Jean wiped his tears with the sleeve of his coat. “T-Thank you, pastor.”

“You’re welcome. Please, if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“Have a good night. Keep Marco close to you.”

“I will. Good night, pastor.”

He hung up and got into the bedroom again. Marco was talking to Mina on the phone as Jean climbed on the bed, softening his pillow.

“Yeah, okay. Sure, I wanna see you too. Of course we can. I love you. Sweet dreams. Good night.” He ended the call, putting the phone on the nightstand. “So... Did you call him?”

“Yeah.” Jean replied. “How’s Mina? Is everything okay between you two?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. She’s great.” Marco tried to hold back a smile.

“Good.” Jean was actually happy for them, so he tried to smile a little.

“Argh, just come here.” Marco pulled his friend closer, placing Jean’s head on his own chest. “No homo.”

“Who are you saying this for?” Jean mocked, but not losing the opportunity to hug his friend. He didn't know how much he needed a hug until that moment.

“I dunno. Shut up or I’ll kick you out of bed.” Marco chuckled.

  
\---------------------------------

 

The weeks passed, classes started, but Jean wouldn't leave Armin’s side. He stopped out college for that semester, despite his family and friends telling him not to do so. He didn't care, and he would end up failing anyway. Day and night all he thought about was Armin’s health. If he would ever wake up, if he would ever show Jean his perfect smile again. There was no way Jean could go back and study with while his boyfriend was lying on a bed, unconscious.

Jean wouldn't leave Armin’s side even on his own birthday, so their friends called him on Skype. They were at a small party at Marco’s room, trying to fit themselves into the camera’s frame. They sang “Happy Birthday” to him and Jean could swear he felt Armin squeeze his hand for a moment. When he asked the doctor, he said it was a good thing, but also asked Jean not to get his hopes up. Apparently Armin had come out of the coma, to a minimally conscious state and even though he had a great chance, there wasn't any guarantees he would wake up.

Still, Jean wouldn't lose hope. He’d continue to come, everyday, even when the blond’s grandfather was there giving him angry looks. He probably blamed the brunet for what happened. Luckily for Jean his grandfather was old enough not to be able to sleep the whole night on a chair, so Jean could stay there, telling Armin how much he loved him while holding his hand. He could kiss the blond’s forehead, say stupid things and even make fun of him. Like he would do if his boyfriend was awake.

His mother had called a million times, and Jean had to admit he ignored a few or her calls. It wasn't like he didn't like her, but he would get along better with his father. His mom was too emotional, just like him, so they weren't a good match during complicated situations. She would make Jean even more nervous and sad than he already was, so when his father called, he was relieved.

“Hey, son. How are you doing?” He said.

“I’m fine. Well, as fine as I can be.”

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s still out. He squeezes my hand, he cried once, but... He’s still out. They still don’t know if he’ll wake up even though they said there was a good chance.” Jean admitted, holding Armin’s hand, as usual.

“Jean... Look, I need you to listen to me, okay? Calmly. You know he might not wake up anymore, don’t you?”

“The doctor said he’s getting better.” Jean retorted.

“I know, but he also said he may not wake up. What I’m trying to say is... You have to go back to college next semester.”

“I won’t-!”

“JEAN! Listen. I know you love him. He’s seems like an amazing kid, but you can’t give up on your life. I like Armin, he’s great and I’ll keep supporting him in any way I can, but my job is to look after _you_. _You_ are my son and you must take care of yourself.”

“But dad, he’s going to wake up soon and-!”

“How do you know?”

“I-... I don’t.” He had to admit.

“You understand what I’m saying? I’m giving you time, you can stay out of college for the rest of this semester, but you have to be there on the next. With or without Armin. Do you understand?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I hope you two can go back together. I really do. Hang in there and please call if you need anything.”

“Okay...”

“Good night, son... I love you.”

Those words had a strong effect on the boy. It was rare for his father to say them, even though he would always demonstrate his love by spending all his free time with his son.

“I love you too, dad. Good night.”

Jean hung up and looked at Armin, still laying by his side, like he was just sleeping. The brunet kissed his forehead, holding the blond’s hand with his own.

 _Hey God, it’s me again. I know I’ve asked you a million times to make him wake up, but I’m here to ask you again. Please, please let him wake up._ _He doesn’t deserve this. He’s_ _so kind and smart._ _Please let him come back to the way he was before. He's so amazing. Please let him wake up._ _The world needs him._

…

I _need him._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... I did a lot of research on comas, MCS and other related subjects in order to write this chapter and I hope everything's payed off. I hope I was able to write a chapter that you guys can enjoy (Despite everything, obviously.) and I hope you get past it to read the next.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean suffers to finally catch a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna thank you guys for the comments on the last chapter. It was amazing to get all the feedback! Thank you very much!

The days passed and Jean continued to visit Armin every night. He would come, greet the boy’s grandfather and the man would leave. Jean would sit down and wait two long minutes so there was no chance of him coming back. Then, the boy would approach his boyfriend, kiss him on the forehead and hold his hand, greeting him as well.

“Hey, babe. How are you doing today?” Jean kissed the blond’s hand. “Can you hear me?”

He felt a little squeeze on his hand.

“Good, good.” He smiled. “Well, I brought you something cool, wanna hear?”

There was no response the second time.

“Well, I’m gonna let you hear it anyway. You’ll like it, I promise. Oh, by the way, everyone really misses you. They wanna talk to you, so I think you should wake up, y’know? Anyway, let’s do this.” He kissed Armin’s hand again. “How about we listen to some whales today? I found a really cool video for you. Check this out.”

He touched the screen and the video started to play. It was an hour-long video with whale sounds recorded underwater. Jean had brought a lot of sounds that he thought would make Armin happy, like belugas, waves, etc. They were all desperate attempts to get him to wake up.

Even though none of them worked, Armin would at least react to most of them, and this one was no different. The blond squeezes his hand, but Jean was used to it. He didn’t turn his face anymore.

That was until he heard a sweet, familiar voice, as low as a whisper.

“...Cute...”

Jean turned his head to find Armin’s big blue eyes staring at him.

“Fuck...! Holy...! Fuck! Shit! Fuck!” Jean got up so fast he dropped his phone and let go of Armin’s hand. “Armin? Armin did you just-... Armin, did you talk? Y-You said they were cute, didn’t you?”

The blond smiled for a moment before replying, his voice still a little hoarse.

“Yes.”

“Oh my God... Holy shit... NURSE!!!” Jean ran to the door shouting before remembering there was a button near Armin’s bed to call the nurse. He pressed it like a madman before holding the blond’s hand. “Armin, oh my God, Armin... Are you okay???”

“...Ove...” The blond tried to say, smiling again.

“O-Oh my God. I-I love you too, baby. I love you so much.”

The nurse rushed in, looking worried.

“What happened?!” She asked.

“He’s awake! H-He’s awake!” Jean got out of the way, smiling like an idiot. He was so happy he felt like crying. 

“He’s awake.” He whispered to himself, putting his hands on his head. “He’s awake.”

  
\---------------------------------

 

After his awakening, the blond was sitting on the bed when his grandfather entered the room. At the very second he did, the machine monitoring Armin’s heartbeats went nuts and the boy’s hand twitched around Jean’s for a whole minute, even after his grandfather had left.

“Armin, calm down. What's wrong? That's your grandfather.” Jean said, holding the Armin’s hand, placing another on the blond's head.

“No.” Armin just replied, squeezing Jean's hand. 

“It's okay, calm down.”

“This is a really unusual reaction. Armin, did that man do something to you?” The doctor asked.

“No.” He continued to say, trying to calm himself down.

“He should stay away from him for a while. I think you should leave as well, so we can make a few tests.”

“O-Okay.” Jean got out of the room after calming down his boyfriend, just to find the boy’s grandfather staring at him.

“You! What did you do to him? What did you say to him? Why is he afraid of me?” The man asked.

“Wha-? I-I didn’t do anything! I didn’t say anything! I don’t know what’s going on either!” Jean defended himself.

Jean could see the hate on the old man’s face. His mouth twitched once or twice, his hands formed fists and his eyebrows were furrowed. But he didn’t say a word. Obviously, with Edmund paying for the treatment he was probably afraid to say anything.

“Look, I didn't say anything to him, alright? I don’t know why he’s acting like this. If you have a problem with me, fine, but right now all I care about is Armin. Just like you. So we’ll leave this argument for later.”

The man didn't reply. He just sat down on the couch, staring at the floor and the conversation came to an end.

After this incident, Armin’s grandfather continued to come, but stood outside the room, waiting for the doctor to come out with the news. Jean had to admit it was a little sad. Being a jerk or not, he cared about Armin and now he couldn’t even see his grandson.

Even so, there was no time to dwell on it. He just had to take care of his boyfriend and hope for his full recovery.

  
\---------------------------------

 

It was around May and Armin was nearly recovered. Jean had been pushing his wheelchair around the hospital ever since the blond had started to eat by himself and the doctor allowed it. At first it was hard for Jean to see the smartest person he knew not being able to do some simple tasks such as eating by himself and talking properly. Still, Armin’s recovery was fast, which made things a little easier.

Jean made sure to always joke around and try to make Armin feel comfortable. During their strolls, Jean would talk to him and often take him to a hidden place in the hospital to kiss his hands. It was a small gesture, but it made Armin smile so much that Jean couldn't help himself.

Jean was remembering those small moments when the doctor came in, bringing a knee brace and crutches.

“Hello, boys.” He got in, standing close to Armin’s bed.

“Oh, look, it’s Doc Dok!” Jean mocked.

“...Armin, I wish you all the luck in the world if you’re going to put up with this guy after you leave.” The doctor replied.

“I know, he’s a dork. Please ignore him.” Armin chuckled and Jean pinched his leg.

“So, are you feeling okay? You look much better than last time.” He said, preparing the brace to put it on Armin’s leg.

“Yes, I’m fine. I still have a hard time remembering some dates and names, but I’m fine.”

“That’s very good to hear. I’m sure you’ll completely recover in no time. Well, I’m gonna put the knee brace on you now, okay?” He put it on, making sure it was perfectly fit. “Great. Now, I brought you some crutches too, but you’ll only be using them for a while, so don’t worry. You’ll be fine soon. It's just to make sure there's no pressure on your knee for now. Like I said on our last meet, I’ll be putting on the knee brace because you felt a slight discomfort. So we’ll put it on, continue with the physical therapy to strengthen your muscles and we’ll try taking it off as soon as possible, okay?”

“Okay.” Armin replied, looking at his knee.

“Well, that’s pretty much it. I can’t continue the treatment because you’ll be going home, but here’s Dr. Jinn's number. He’ll go straight to your home and handle your physical therapy. I've already contacted him and gave all the information about your situation, okay?” The doctor handed over a small card.

“Yes, thank you doctor. For everything.” Armin said as he looked at the card.

“No problem.” He got up. “It was a pleasure, and I hope you'll recover soon. Good luck.”

“Thank you very much.” Jean said, giving the doctor a handshake.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled and left.

  
\---------------------------------

 

When the boys were leaving, Armin’s grandfather was waiting outside the hospital. He’d already agreed to let the blond stay at Jean’s place since it would be easier for the doctor to visit and there were several employees to help Armin with anything he needed.

The blond stared at him, still a little nervous, but took a deep breath and smiled at his grandfather. The man approached, giving his grandson a hug, receiving another in return. Armin whispered something and let go, getting off the wheelchair.

Jean watched closely as he got into the car and said goodbye to the boy’s grandfather.

“...Take care of him.” He said.

“I will, I promise. You can call my home anytime. Here’s the number.” Jean handed the small piece of paper to him and the man nodded, stepping away from the car.

When they left, Armin looked back for a moment before returning to his original position and sighing. Jean held his hand, entwining their fingers.

“Everything will be okay. Don’t worry.”

  
\---------------------------------

 

When Jean arrived he made sure that Armin got out safely and ran to the door, to hold Beast down. The blond got in and the dog wouldn't stop barking, so he leaned himself against the wall and spread his arms.

“Release the Kraken!” He said, chuckling.

“Are you sure???” Jean asked.

“Yes, go ahead.” He smiled and Jean released the dog, that jumped on the boy, barking at his face. “Stop barking, you silly! I will go deaf!”

Armin chuckled and petted the dog, playing with him for a while, still leaning against the wall.

The boys spent the rest of the day together and at night they laid on the bed, watching a few documentaries on  _Animal Planet_. They were boring. Really boring. Jean was nearly falling asleep, but he couldn't. Not yet.

He waited for the commercials and sat on the bed, holding Armin’s hand. The blond used it as a support to raise himself, sitting in front of Jean.

“What is it?” He asked.

“I... I just can’t believe you’re here with me.” Jean whispered, kissing Armin’s fingers.

“You keep doing this.” Armin chuckled. “You didn't do it before, did you?”

“No.” He laughed. “I just... You seemed so happy every time I did this.”

“I like it.”

“Actually I came up with this because... I couldn't do what I really wanted. Not until you were fine. Not until you were fully healed and back to me.”

“And what is it that you wanted to do to me, sir?” Armin asked, faking indignation.

“This.”

Jean pulled Armin’s waist closer to his and grabbed the back of the blond’s hair, pulling it down to make his mouth open and kissed him. Jean was firm, but he didn't use force. He was allowed to move Armin’s body as he wished while he licked the inside of the blond’s mouth. It was as if he was trying to remember what it was like.

When he finally let go, Armin was completely loose in Jean’s arms, as if the bones in his body were gone. It took him a few seconds to open his eyes, staring at Jean.

“W-Wow...” He whispered to himself.

Jean chuckled and laid him on the bed, kissing his lips and neck.

“I missed you so much. I was so scared...” He confessed, whispering in the blond’s ear. “I thought you’d never come back to me.”

“I’m here now. I won’t leave you.” Armin caressed his head, kissing his cheek. “And... I’m ready to... Tell everyone. About us.”

“R-Really?!” Jean rose, supporting himself on his arms.

“Y-Yes, I’ll... I’ll tell everyone and-... When I go back to my hometown I’ll tell my grandfather too.”

“W-Wow. That’s great!”

“Yes, yes it is.” Armin pulled Jean down for a soft kiss and sighed.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.” Jean smiled. “I’ll always be there for you.”

“I know... I love you.”

Armin replied, this time without hesitation, even his tone was a bit louder. There was no doubt that Armin was proud of that feeling and that made Jean’s heart skip a beat.

“I love you too.” He replied as they laid down together to finish the boring documentary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooohhh~ I was soooooo worried about the end of this chapter! Even though I felt it was a little rushed (Which it really wasn't. But I dunno.) I think this was a good point to stop, even though the next one might become a little shorter. Still, I think it'll be a lot of fun, so I hope you guys are looking forward to it!  
> Thank you for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Annie and Bert are cute. (Maybe.)

Armin being inside that house for such a long time was driving Jean insane. He worried all the time and he honestly believed his boyfriend was getting even more pale than he usually was. So he decided to take Armin on a stroll to Marco’s place. 

The group probably wouldn’t be home yet, but just walking a little would be good for Armin, even if he took twice the time to get there. Jean had to admit both houses’ premises became much bigger when you walked so slowly. 

Even so, time wasn’t that important when he could spend it holding Armin’s hand. In public.  Having him by his side like this was even better than Jean had imagined. So much he was a little disappointed when  they arrived in Marco’s place. After being allowed in, Jean greeted his friend’s father.

“Hello, Jean. What are you doing here so early?”

“Hey, Mr. Bott. I came here to see your loser of a son but I guess he’s not home yet.”

“Nope. He’ll be here at three or four. I’m not sure.” Mr. Bott continued to read his paper, as usual. 

“Okay. Can we wait him in his room?”

“We?” The man finally realized Jean wasn’t alone and turned around. “Oh, hello there.”

He got closer, extending his hand to Armin.

“Oh! H-Hello, sir! Good afternoon. I’m Armin Arlert!” Armin quickly gave the man a handshake.

“He's so polite!” Mt. Bott looked at Jean to say it. He was probably surprised to see such a good kid accompanying Jean. “Nice to meet you Armin. Are you a friend of Jean’s?” 

“I’m...” Armin looked down, taking a deep breath and rose his head again to talk. “I’m his boyfriend!”

It was a little loud and Mr. Bott was startled by it. 

“Oh... I see.” He looked at Jean for a moment, obviously remembering his former companions. They were usually much older and not the best samples of mankind, so Armin seemed even more perfect in comparison. “Well, make yourselves at home.”

“T-Thank you, sir.”

Jean smiled shyly as he took Armin to Marco’s room. 

  
\---------------------------------

 

A few hours later, Marco called them on the intercom. 

“Hey, losers. We’re home.”

“We’ll be right there.” Jean said as he pushed the button to reply. “Let’s go.”

“L-Let’s go.” Armin got up, holding his own hands and taking a deep breath.

Jean could see how nervous he was, so he gave him a gentle kiss.

“Don’t force yourself to do anything. Take your time. I can wait.” 

Armin gave him a small nod before heading into the living room. 

When they got there, Krista was the first to come running, giving him a hug. She apologized for not standing up for him, but Armin was fine with it. Then Marco came and gave Jean a hug, receiving one in return. 

“He’s back now. He’s fine.” Marco whispered, as if he knew Jean needed to be reassured. 

“I know. I know he is.” Jean smiled, taking a deep breath. “I think he’s telling you guys today.”

“Really? That’s amazing!” Marco continued the whispered conversation.

“Yeah...” Jean chuckled and let him go. 

When he did, Bertolt was scratching his own nape as Armin held a small bouquet of flowers. 

“Oh, so you gave him the flowers.” Marco got closer to the blond, giving him a hug. “Good to see you’re okay, man. Get that knee of yours fixed already! That thing is ugly as fuck.” 

“I am _trying_!” Armin chuckled, pushing him away. “Thanks, everyone. You’re amazing friends. And... Since we’re here I... I would like to say something. To everyone.”

“Oh, okay, we can sit on the couch.” Marco said, exchanging a quick but meaningful look with Jean as they headed to the couches.

The group accommodated itself on them as Armin sat on Mr. Bott’s armchair. Jean sat on the arms, a little nervous.

“I... I would just like to say...” He could see Armin shaking a little and squeezing the bouquet. “Actually... Ymir was right. I... J-Jean... Jean and I... W-We’re dating.”

The whole room got silent and Jean looked at Marco. The freckled boy looked calm, as if he was waiting for someone to say something first.

“I KNEW IT!!! I TOLD YOU ASSHOLES THEY WERE FUCKING!!! I TOLD YOU!!! HAAA!!!” Ymir suddenly shouted, getting up from the couch before giving Armin a hug. “Pay up. Pay up.”

“What? The bet is off!!!” Reiner complained.

“Why the fuck would the bet be off?” 

“The guy was in a coma.” Reiner was almost ashamed to say it aloud, but Armin was still clearly more shocked with Ymir’s reaction than anything else.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Armin, were you two hooking up before you took a trip to the underworld?” She turned back at the blond.

“W-Wha-I-What? I-We-Y-Yes. And I wasn’t dead!” Armin quickly stated.

“No, actually you were. For a while, when they were fixing you head. You kinda died once.” Jean noted. It was terrifying to know it at first, but right now it was kind of funny in a weird way. Maybe it was because it made the fear of Armin _actually dying_ go away. 

“WHAT???” The blond turned his head, his eyes widened. 

“You know that this means? Oh yeah... PAY UP!” Ymir danced as she took the money.

“Fuck you.” Reiner paid, being followed by Bertolt and Krista. 

“It was a pleasure doing business with you.” She said, putting the money away. 

“Um... Can we please change the subject?” Marco asked, chuckling and softly smiling at Jean. 

“Sure, let’s go eat something. This house gotta have some food, right?” 

And with that the subject was dropped. Armin continued to sit there, probably thinking, until Jean lowered himself, turning the blond’s face in his direction. 

“You were really brave.” He whispered, smiling at his boyfriend. 

“You were the one who taught me to be.”

Those words shocked Jean in the best way possible. He felt so happy he had to turn his face away so it wouldn’t be so evident. He smiled so brightly he thought his face would be stuck like that forever.

 

\---------------------------------

 

The next day, Jean, Armin, Sasha and Mina went to Marco’s birthday party. Jean made sure to get him a present — Or ask Erwin to get it for him since he wanted to stay home with Armin — and handed it over as soon as they arrived. 

Marco greeted his girlfriend  and Jean realized it wasn’t weird anymore. He’d never seen Marco so in love with anyone before, even though he’d dated other girls.  And all he wanted was his friend to be happy. 

After they got in,  a short, bald buy approached. Jean remembered him  from the incident in Trost, where he saw the boy calling for help. 

“Hey! You’re that guy, aren’t you?” The short boy asked. 

“Oh, hi! You were the one who asked for help in Trost, aren’t you? Thank you so much. You have no idea how grateful I am.” Jean held his hand giving him a quick hug. 

“No problem, man.” He looked at Armin, a little confused.

“Oh yeah, this is Armin Arlert. Armin, you should thank this guy. He indirectly saved your life. He called us to go help you.”

“Really? Wow, thank you!” Armin smiled and put his hair behind his ear.

“...No problem.” The boy was still looking at him as if he was trying to figure something out. “Um, anyway, I’m Connie Springer.”

“Nice to meet you, Connie!” Armin said with a smile.

The blond extended his hand, but Connie didn’t take it. He looked hypnotized by something behind Armin, so Jean turned around trying to find the reason.

“Wow...” Connie said, almost drooling. “W-Who... Who is that girl?”

“Who? The one with the shorts and the ponytail? That’s Sasha.” Jean told him.

“S-She’s gorgeous. S-She’s... Perfect.”

“...Is she?” Jean was trying to find out in what way was Sasha perfect. 

He didn’t think he was ugly or anything like that, but... It was Sasha. Silly Sasha, that would play house with him and stuff him and Marco with some crazy foods she made. 

“Would you like me to introduce you to her?” Armin volunteered, trying to contain his laugh. 

“W-Would you??? Really? Hang on!” He ran to one of the glass doors, checking out the state of his clothes, teeth and breath before returning to their side. “O-Okay, let’s go.”

Armin pulled Connie by the arm and went away with him. Jean decided to go outside for a while. 

As he got out of the house, Reiner was sitting on a long chair, chatting with Annie. Jean approached and the taller one looked at him. Jean felt awkward because of the whole deal with Armin, but Reiner just extended his hand.  Jean took it and received a nice handshake. It felt like a silent communication that said “You win.” or something. The brunet let out a soft smile and sat down to join the conversation.

A few minutes later, Bertolt came back with a drink, handing it over to Annie. 

“Here it is, honey.” He said sweetly. 

“Is it regular or diet?” She asked.

“Regular, of course. Just the way you like it.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. 

It was a sweet scene, but a  _ random jerk _ had to ruin it. He whistled and clapped as he laughed.

“I guess we know _who_ wear the pants in the house, huh?”

Annie got up and Bertolt tried to hold her, but she was faster. She walked to the guy, without a single word and punched him right in the nose. Everyone got startled, but as soon as the guy fell she ripped off his pants, throwing them in the pool. 

“W-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, YOU CRAZY BITCH???” The guy shouted, his hand on his nose. 

“What? Is there something wrong?” She calmly asked.

“YOU TOOK OFF MY PANTS!!!” He said as he tried to get them from the pool.

“And what’s the problem? According to you, my man isn’t wearing any and he’s still here, isn’t he? So why are you so bothered by it?”

“Y-You-...!”

“You what? Please finish this sentence. If you’re offensive enough you can make him beat the crap out of you.” She said as she indicated Bertolt, who stood behind her. Jean didn’t even see him getting up. 

The guy murmured a few things but didn’t dare to give her a reply. He finally managed to take his pants from the pool and dashed out of the house. Annie pulled Bertolt down from a kiss as everyone cheered. 

Armin got out of the house at that same moment and Jean approached him. 

“Hey. Did you introduce them?” The brunet asked.

“Huh? Yeah! I did. What happened here?” Armin asked, curious.

“Annie just taught some guy a lesson. It was awesome. Anyway, are you feeling okay? How’s your knee?”

“Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry.” The blond replied, before even thinking about it. “Can we sit somewhere? Just for a while.”

“Sure, let’s go.” Jean took his hand and lead him into the unused dining room, allowing him to sit down. “It’s quiet here. I know you like it.”

“I love it.” Armin smiled and Jean couldn’t help himself. He held the blond’s hands, kissing them.

“And I love you.” Jean said, looking him in the eyes. 

“I-I love you too.” Armin lowered his head in embarrassment as he said it.

  
\---------------------------------

 

As the morning came, the group continued to play a few games. They were playing Uno as Marco came in the room with a trash bag. 

“Sasha is making out with Connie by the cascade. How the fuck did they even get there? You know what? I don’t even wanna know.” He said, throwing himself on the couch. 

Armin was sitting on it, almost sleeping as Marco laid on the couch’s arm. After a few minutes, when Jean was about to tell his boyfriend to go to bed, he turned around to find Armin laying on top of Marco, passed out. 

He tried to hold his laugh, but it was hard. The rest of the group accompanied his gaze and laughed as low as possible.

“Geez, this guy just came out of the closet and he’s banging every guy he can get his hands on!” Ymir said.

“Shut up.” Jean said, chuckling. 

“Quick, take a picture!” Reiner suggested. 

Jean took out his phone and took the picture, adding a pink frame in the shape of a heart before suggesting they used tooth paste to draw on their faces. Armin had to learn the first rule of sleepovers:

Never fall asleep before everyone else.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you guys read through this chapter? It was boring as fuck. I'm sorry. The next one will be much better, I promise.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean gets lucky and has an embarrassing talk with Marco.

Watching Armin get embarrassed every time Marco got close was incredibly amusing to Jean, — Specially considering he and Marco had no shame in their relationship whatsoever — but pranking Armin so that their room at the dorm would be covered with the picture of them sleeping together was just the best.

Jean took his boyfriend to the mall, where they had ice cream while their friends got the job done. Marco was so fine with the whole deal that he even gave them a hand. The only one still embarrassed about it was Armin.

As they got back to the dorm the blond nearly died.

“W-What the hell is this?!” He said, putting his hands on his cheeks in a mixture shock and shame. “W-Why are you doing this to me?”

Jean laughed so hard he thought the group might hear him. Even those who lived on the other side of the campus. Armin took quite a while to remove the pictures, just to find another one on his pillow.

“This is getting ridiculous!” He said, showing it to Jean.

“This guys are the best.” Jean was having so much fun.

“No they are not! You suck!” Armin hit him with the pillow, trying not to laugh.

“Well, _I_ do.” Making this kind of jokes was almost a necessity to Jean at this point.

“...Oh my God, shut up!!!” Armin hit him even harder this time.

Jean chuckled and pulled him closer for kisses that slowly found their way to the blond’s neck. As they did, Armin seemed to melt, just letting Jean do as he pleased. And since Jean wasn’t the best at self-control, his hands obviously wandered to the inside of the other boy’s shirt.

And then the brunet made the mistake of thinking about Armin’s perfect bottom. He wanted to touch it so bad. He’d never waited so long to touch someone’s butt in his life. Armin had made him wait a year. He had to at least give it a shot.

He put the tips of his fingers inside the blond’s pants and waited. He even moved a little, just to make sure Armin felt them, but the other barely reacted.

_Well, I guess it’s fine then. Right? Oh, stop thinking, please, just do it. Even if he slaps you in the face, it’s worth it._

He slowly lowered his hand before grabbing Armin’s butt cheek. It was even better than he imagined to would be. He got even closer, without letting go, hoping he would finally get what he wanted.

“W-Wait!” Armin suddenly pulled away, blushing.

_Fuck._

“What? What’s wrong?” Jean asked, a nervous. He feared he might have been too forceful.

“I-I-...! D-Don’t-...!” Armin lowered his head, trying to explain.

Jean remembered that feeling. _He_ wasn’t ready when he had sex for the first time, and he didn’t want Armin to feel the same way he did.

“It’s okay! Armin, you don’t have to do it. I just... Tried.” He chuckled. “You didn’t say anything, so I just didn't stop. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine. But... In my defense, you don’t give me time to ask you to stop!” He gave Jean a hug, and pouted.

“Huh... Yeah, I do. I put my fingertips inside your pants for a few seconds before I put the whole hand in there.”

“No, you didn’t!” Armin was actually a little angry.

“Yes, I did. I know because I was dying to do it. I bet a hundred bucks you were thinking about seven million things at once and didn’t even realize what I was doing to you.”

“...Shut up!” Armin blushed, lowering his face again.

Jean chuckled, letting go of his boyfriend.

  
\---------------------------------

 

Months later, Jean asked Levi to take he and Armin to the boy’s hometown. There was no way he’d face another twelve hours to get there. Levi could make the trip in four or five hours, and that was enough.

Armin held his hand during the whole trip and Jean caressed it, trying to calm him down. When they got there, Armin touched their foreheads before leaving the car. Jean saw him knock on the door and be received by his grandfather.

And that was it for a while. He and Levi sat in the car, in silence. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of their breaths. Jean was starting to get nervous when he heard Levi’s soft and low voice.

“He’ll be fine.” He said.

“W-What?”

“Relax. You’ll be there for him, won’t you?”

“Of course I will!”

“Then he’ll be fine.”

Levi might be a rude money-whore but he was wise. He knew how to handle people in his own way and he always knew what to do in tough situations. Jean took a deep breath as he thought about those words. He knew Levi was right, as always. He needed to be there for Armin, no matter what.

After a few minutes he heard some shouting and, as he turned around, he saw Armin being thrown out of the house.

“G-GRANDFATHER, PLEASE!!! I’M STILL ME!!! I’M STILL YOUR GRANDSON!!! PLEASE, LET ME IN!!! I LOVE YOU, PLEASE LET ME IN!!!” He saw Armin slamming the door and kneeling as he started to lose strength.

“Oh, fuck no.” Jean got out of the car and ran to his boyfriend’s side.

“Please, grandfather... I love you! I need to know about my mother, I-... Please...”

Jean had never seen Armin cry that much. His heart ached with the sight, but there was nothing he could say to make the other feel better. He helped Armin up and lead him to the small stairs on the porch. They sat there for a while, Jean’s hand on the blond’s back, until the elderly man opened the door again.

“Grandfather, please listen-...!” Armin turned around, getting up, hopeful.

“Be quiet. I never want to see your face again, you ungrateful little bastard.” The man said, putting Armin’s stuff on the ground. “How _dare_ you do this to me? I treated you right, I gave you food, shelter, I raised you with all my love and you decide to become a sinner?”

“Grandfather, it’s _not_ a decision, I never  _chose_ t his!” Jean could _see_ Armin’s suffering.

“And not only that” He continued, not even bothering to listen to his grandson. “You had to choose this _degenerate_  lead you into this sinful ways! You really _are_ your mother’s son.”

Jean was doing his best not to punch him right in the face. He continued to remember the guy who had beaten Armin up, his teenage years, Marco’s and Pastor Nick’s words, anything that could help him control his anger.

“You are a little whore just like her! You sold your soul for a fancy car and a house filled with maids!”

“HEY!!! SHUT YOUR MOUTH, OLD MAN!!!” It was too much. Jean didn’t even realize he had hit the wall until the pain started to take over his fist.

“Stop.” Armin said with a calm and low voice. “Let’s go.”

“W-What?!” Jean was confused about the blond’s behavior.

“Let’s go.” Armin crouched to get his things from the floor.

“You are an embarrassment.”

Those were the last words Armin’s grandfather said before slamming the door shut, making the blond start crying again. Jean got the suitcase and poster from the floor and handed them to Levi — Who had stepped out of the car — and came back for Armin.

The whole way back, the blond didn’t say a word. There was an awful silence inside that car as the smaller boy looked out the window, probably thinking. Jean didn’t have the guts to say anything. If he did, he’d probably call Armin’s grandfather every name in the book, but he knew this was not what his boyfriend needed right now.

As they entered the city, Jean had lost all hopes of talking to Armin until the next day. He’d just be quiet and supportive for as long as the other needed. However, Armin’s soft voice rang on his ears after a few minutes.

“Jean.”

“Yeah?” He looked at Armin, but the blond hadn’t moved.

“Is it okay for me to be selfish for a while?”

“Yeah, of course. Anything you want!”

“Levi, please take me to a place far away. Where no one can find us. Like a lookout point.”

“Alright.” Levi agreed.

“But first, take me to a liquor store and buy me a bottle of vodka, please. Jean, give him the money, please.”

Jean started to look for his wallet when Levi’s voice echoed through the car again.

“Don’t worry. I’ll pay.”

The man stopped the car and got out, coming back a few seconds later with the requested bottle. He handed it over to Armin who stared at it until they got to a desert lookout point.

The blond got out of the car and Jean opened the door, but didn’t get up. Armin opened the bottle and took a huge gulp, drinking almost half the bottle. He shoved it back in Jean’s hands and walked to the cliff, taking a deep breath.

“YOU STUPID OLD MAN, HOW __DARE__ YOU DO THIS TO ME???” The blond suddenly shouted,. “I WAS A GOOD GRANDSON!!! I’M A GOOD PERSON!!! I BEHAVED, I SPOKE LIKE A ROBOT, I WORE CLOTHES TWENTY FOUR SEVEN INSIDE MY OWN HOUSE, I HAD TO LISTEN TO YOUR HOMOPHOBIC CONVERSATIONS FOR YEARS AND YEARS, IN SILENCE!!! I HAD TO GROW UP WITHOUT A MOTHER AND FATHER BECAUSE YOU LIED AND TREATED THEM LIKE CRAP!!! HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE SHIT AND KICK ME OUT OF THE HOUSE??? AND YES, I SAID ‘SHIT’!!! YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME ANYMORE, I CAN CURSE AS MUCH AS I WANT!!! SHIT!!! SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, FUCK, COCK, BITCH, FUCK!!!! FUCK, FUCK, FUCKFUCKFUCKFUUUUUUUUUCK!!!”

Jean heard Levi snorting and ended up smiling softly. He got closer to Armin, who had just sit, and joined him.

“Feel better?” Jean asked.

“A little. Come, I wanna go to Mc Donald’s.”

Armin got up and Jean made sure to follow him back to the car.

“Where to?” Levi calmly asked.

“Mc Donald’s. And I wanna eat on the car.” Armin said, taking Jean’s hand.

Levi drove to into the drive-through and the blond moved to talk to the machine. He must have been a little drunk because he used Levi’s leg as a support, along with the back of the driver’s seat.

“I want two Big Macs, a large coke, large french-fries, a Mc Flurry with M&Ms and an apple pie.” Armin asked and turned back at Jean. “What do you guys want?”

“You’re eating all this by yourself?” Jean asked, surprised.

“Yes I am.”

“Huh... I want just a Quarter Pounder and a medium coke. What about you, Levi?”

“I’ll pass.”

Levi drove them to some random street and Armin ate his lunch. Jean could see him nearly dying to eat the last fries, but he managed to finish them. Jean suggested they waited a while before moving again, so Armin laid against the brunet and got his head caressed.

 

\---------------------------------

 

After the break, Armin asked Jean to stop at an ATM and take out a thousand dollars and to buy a book, which the blond made sure Jean read on his own, even though Armin seemed to be suffering as he watched. The brunet was getting more and more confused with each unexplained request, but he promised himself to do anything Armin wanted for the day, so he just followed. 

Levi took them back to the dorm and as soon as they got into their room Armin put his things down and turned around. Jean closed the door and as he turned around Armin was standing there, holding the money he received earlier. Jean watched as he threw the bills to the air, watching them fall. He picked them up and repeated the actions before he got tired.

“There. I’m done.” He gave Jean his money back. “Here.”

“What... Was that?” He took the bills and put them back on his wallet.

“Avarice.” Armin had a hint of a smile as he replied.

“Oh my God. The Seven Sins? That’s what you’re doing?”

“Yeah.” The blond chuckled and hugged Jean’s neck, getting closer. “If I'm going to be a sinner, might as well enjoy it, right?”

“Makes sense.” Jean chuckled at his childishness.

“And you know what? I have pretty eyes. I have pretty hair. I’m smart. I’m a good friend. I am a good boyfriend... Sometimes.”

“So, that was Pride?” Jean pulled his waist closer.

“Yes it was.” Armin kissed him softly, smiling. “And tomorrow, we’ll spend the whooole day in bed. We won’t leave this room.”

“I like that idea.” Jean didn’t “like” the idea. He _loved_ it.

“Also, there’s still one more to go.” Armin took a deep breath, looking into Jean’s eyes.

“Oh...” Jean was waiting so much for this. Whatever it was, he was fine. Just touching Armin would be enough at this point. “Okay... What do you wanna-...?”

Armin suddenly kissed him, pulling him to the mattresses, where they fell. Jean noticed his boyfriend would touch his arms and chest, but seemed a little lost — Or shy — about what to do next, so he places the blond’s hands beside his head and kissed him.

Being with Armin was totally different from every experience Jean had ever had. The kisses, the touches, the sounds... Everything seemed new and personal. He finally understood why people said that sex was better when it was with someone you love. It was true. Armin had no skills whatsoever, but he was still a better lover than all of Jean’s previous companions combined. Maybe it was because he actually _cared_ about Jean.

Whatever the reason, Jean wanted to have him for the rest of his life.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Jean woke up in the middle of the night to find Armin sitting on the mattress, painfully moaning.

“What’s wrong?” He sat up, touching Armin’s head.

“I feel sick...” The blond replied.

“I told you not to eat that much. Do you feel like throwing up?” Jean sat up, getting closer.

“No, I just... I just wanna sit here for a while.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry for ruining the night. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Armin whispered.

“It’s fine, you’re not ruining anything. It was amazing, and _nothing_ could possibly ruin it. Much less you feeling sick. All I care about is you getting better, so focus on that, okay?” Jean kissed his cheek.

“Okay.” Armin touched Jean’s head, pulling him closer. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

 

\---------------------------------

 

Jean woke up the next day with a stupid smile on his face. Armin was still sleeping when Marco sent him a text.

**Marco  
Hey loser! Heard u were back. Lunch? :) **

**Jean**

**Sure. Gotta tell u smth.**

**Marco**

**K then. My room, 12: 4 0.**

Jean thought about getting up and doing something productive, but watching Armin sleep was much more interesting. He touched his boyfriend’s face, kissing his head and fell asleep again after a few minutes.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Later that day, Jean was still laying around in bed with Armin, chatting. Much to his surprise, the blond had woken him up earlier basically... _Asking for it_. If Jean could choose a way to die, this was it. Waking up next to a horny Armin.

Jean looked at the time on his phone and realized he was late.

“Fuck, I gotta go. Wanna come have lunch with Marco and I?” Jean asked.

“Nope. You boys can enjoy yourselves. I’ll stay here, doing nothing.”

“Really? Okay. See ya later, then.” He got up, getting his clothes from his bag and putting them on. “You’re totally staring at my ass, aren’t you?”

When he turned around Armin had just turned his eyes away, pretending he wasn’t staring with an innocent “Hmm?” as he hid half his face under the blankets. Jean chuckled, rolling his eyes.

“Do you want me to bring you lunch?” He asked, lowering himself to give Armin a kiss.

“Yes, please.” The blond smiled.

Jean got out of the room and knocked on Marco’s door. The freckled boy was about to leave the room when he stopped and stared at Jean.

“You had sex.” It wasn’t a question.

“W-What?! How the fuck do you know?!” Jean was actually surprised.

“You look gross, you’re smiling like an idiot, your hair is a mess and you smell different.” Marco stated like a lawyer proving a crime. “Let’s go, you’ll tell me about it during lunch. By the way, you could’ve at least taken a shower!”

He said, leaving his room.

“Sorry. I lost track of time.” Jean laughed.

“Gross. By the way, halle-fucking-lujah!!! It took you _one year_ to bang this guy. It's like a new record.”

“I know, right? Seriously, I was _dying_ to be with him.”

“I know!!!” Marco laughed. “Just tell me about it during lunch. I’m seriously curious.”

“ _You’re_ curious?” Jean raised one eyebrow.

“Well, let’s see... Major pervert fucking a virgin Amish boy. Yeah, that’s not interesting at all.” Marco explained sarcastically, pretending his hands were a balance.

“...Yeah, okay. I get it. And hold on! Why am I a pervert?”

“...Are you seriously asking me that?” Marco stared at him.

“Never mind. Anyway, where do you wanna go?”

“What about that restaurant close to the movie theater? It’s busy enough to have this talk.”

“Fine.”

As they got to the restaurant and ordered, the boys took a seat and started to eat their pizza.

“So, how’d you do it?” Marco asked, taking a sip from his drink.

Jean smiled devilishly.

“I rode him like a pony!” He said proudly, making Marco choke on his drink.

“Um... First of all, thank you for this beautiful image.” The freckled boy sarcastically said, cleaning his face. “Second, that’s not what I meant. I meant how did you, Jean, do it. How did _you_ get into his pants. Not how you two queers did it.”

“Oh... Well, he just decided to do it. We went to see his grandfather and he... He kinda disowned him.”

“Holy fuck, are you serious?” Marco widened his eyes, taking another piece of the pizza they shared. “That sucks. Is he okay? Do you need to go back there?”

“No, no, it’s fine. He’s okay now. But when we’re finished here we gotta get him food.”

“Sure, no problem!”

There was silence for a while as they ate before Marco decided to talk.

“But seriously dude, you let Armin top? What the fuck?”

“Well, _technically_ , I was on top.”

“Doesn’t matter, dude. You were the one taking it up the ass. You’re still the bottom.”

“Yeah, I know. Also, this morning he was actually on top anyway, so...”

“Wait, hold on!” Marco put his hand up to refrain Jean from speaking. “He... He was _literally_ on top? Like... _Armin_? Are you sure it wasn’t some old dude in a wig?”

“Oh my God, no!" Jean laughed. “That’s the thing: he’s a closet pervert!”

“Yeah, right!” Marco rose an eyebrow, still skeptic. 

 “He woke me up today by kissing my neck.  _And_ laying on top of me.” Jean stated. 

“You’re joking.” 

“No, I’m not, sir.” Jean chuckled.

“Wow. The quiet ones are really the worst, huh?”

Marco laughed and Jean joined. Talking with Marco, specially about Armin, was just the best. Marco was the kind of person you could talk about any subject and not be afraid of judgement. It was a different relationship. Armin was his friend and _lover_ . Marco was his friend and _brother_ . It's not like he was afraid to tell his boyfriend anything, but he couldn't talk to Armin about the subject he loved the most: _Armin_.

The boys finished their meal and bought the requested soup. As they got back to the dorm, Marco took a deep breath and turned to Jean.

“You’re really happy now, aren’t you?”

“So happy, man.” Jean smiled.

“Good.”

Marco smiled and gave him a soft hug. He knew what that question and hug meant. It meant Marco didn't have to worry about him anymore. It meant Jean would be fine, no matter what, because he had Armin by his side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Um... Some news: Next chapter might be the last one for both stories. I'm still not sure, but there's an 90% chance of that. IF there's another chapter, it'll be just one more, but I doubt it.  
> Anyway, I would like to thank you all for keeping up with the story! I'll have more news about other projects I'm currently working on in chapter 17!
> 
> (PS: I hope you like bottom!Jean, because I love it.)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a lot of things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanna apologize for the typos on Armin's chapter. I revised it just once, and some ended up in the story.  
> Also, I wanna apologize for even continuing to exist after typing "prologue" instead of "epilogue". I just realized it after I posted it, so I fixed it at once. Still, I'm sorry for that. It was bad. Really bad. I'm sorry. So sorry. orz

It was the second day after their graduation. Jean had taken Armin for a stroll on the beach, back in Trost. He wanted Armin to have good memories from the place he was born, not just some  awful memory from  some guy beating the crap out of him. And Jean would make sure to create some good memories.

Armin was walking beside him, holding his hand and staring at the ocean. His golden locks reached the middle of his back now and his pale feet touched the white sand. He looked perfect, as usual. 

Jean stopped and held him in place, taking a deep breath. 

“What’s wrong?” Armin turned at him, confused. 

_ Fuck, he’s hot. Look at those eyes, reflecting the sunset... Damn. Ugh, dude, stop droolling over him. You got shit to do. _

Jean tried not to be distracted and gave Armin a kiss. It was long, but soft and gentle, like Jean’s caress against the blond’s cheek. He stepped away, kneeling in front of him.

“OhmyGodwhatareyoudoing?” Armin asked, blushing violently and covering his face with his hands. 

“I-!” Jean realized his voice was too loud and tried again. “I... Armin, I-... I love you. I really do. And there’s no way I can be happy if I don’t spend the rest of my life with you. So, marry me!” 

Armin stood there, in that same position for a while until Jean noticed he was laughing behind his hands.

“W-WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING???” He asked, blushing.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I swear I didn’t plan to laugh, but it was just like ‘Hey, marry me, you bastard!’” Armin was nearly dying from laughter at this point.

“S-Shut up!!!” As Jean was about to get up a wave came and threw him on the ground. As he got up he realized the ring he was holding was gone. “Fuck! NONONONONONONONONONO!!!! FUCK, THE RING!!!”

“WHAT???” Armin asked, shocked. 

“FIND IT!!! IT COSTED ME SO MUCH!!! SO MANY PRIVATE CLASSES WITH RUDE TEENAGERS!!!” Jean was about to die when he finally saw the ring being taken by the wave. He didn’t even know how he did it, but he jumped on it and got it back. 

“YOU FOUND IT!!!” Armin shouted, completely wet as they both had almost got into the ocean to get it back. 

“NOW TAKE IT, ASSHOLE!!!” 

Jean put the ring in Armin’s finger and they both got quiet, realizing the proposal had been done and accepted. They stared at the ring in Armin’s hand and started to laugh. 

“This is probably the worse proposal on Earth.” Jean said, a little disappointed at himself.

“That's not truth. It was the best.” The blond said as he chuckled and Jean pushed him to the ground, laughing. 

Armin pulled him closer to a kiss  and Jean took a few minutes to decide to get up. The couple returned to the beach house, and took a shower. It took forever to take all the sand from Armin’s hair, but it was fine. There was no rush. They would spend the rest of their lives together.

 

\---------------------------------

 

_ One year later _

 

Jean was in his hotel room when Marco came in. They both wore suits and Jean was sitting on the bed, his legs shaking. 

“Hey, man. Excited?” 

“I can’t do this. What was I thinking? I’m gonna have to speak in front of everyone! And... And I couldn’t say something romantic even if my life depended on it! We should just stick to the paper. I-...”

“Jean, shut the fuck up or I’ll punch you.” Marco said, crossing his arms. “You’re doing this, and you’ll be fine. You just have to say how you really feel. Pretend no one else is there and- Stop thinking about escaping through the window!” 

Marco punched him in the arm as he noticed Jean was looking out the window, wondering if the fall would be enough to kill him.

“Look, just be honest and say _why_ you love him. You don’t have to make an amazing speech.” Marco continued. 

“O-Okay. Fine.” Jean agreed and Marco got up. 

“Do you need anything else? I’ll go check on him before the ceremony.”

“No, I’m fine. How’s Mina?” 

Marco’s smile as he mentioned the woman could have lighten up a city during a black-out. 

“She’s fine. She’s... Getting chubby.” He chuckled. “I think we’ll get married after she has the baby. She wants a sexy wedding dress.” 

“Oh, yeah, Armin too. He’ll be wearing a short white dress and matching tights.”

“Why? Why do you have to keep giving me this mental images?” 

“It’s my wedding present for you, babe!” Jean got up and kissed him on the cheek.

“Ugh, get away! Gross!” He pushed Jean away. “Just relax, you’ll be fine.” 

“I know... Thanks.” He smiled and sat back on the bed, trying to calm himself down. 

A few minutes later, someone else knocked on the door. When he allowed it, Armin’s friends Eren and Mikasa came in. Jean tensed up when Eren got closer and extended his hand. Jean shook it and waited for any reaction.

“...Take care of him.” He said, not looking Jean in the eye. Maybe he still couldn’t accept their relationship, but this was enough for now. 

“I will.” He said and Eren let go, letting Mikasa get closer.

“He’s excited.” She said, her voice as low as usual. “Please make him happy. He deserves it.”

“I promise I’ll always do by best to make him the happiest person on Earth.”

“Thank you.” She smiled softly and they left shortly after. 

After a small chat with his father, Jean entered the hall, Armin was standing there, playing with his own fingers. His head was low and he wore a nice suit and his long hair was in a half-ponytail, but it still hid his face.

Jean tightened the grip on his father’s arm and walked to the altar. He honestly thought his legs would stop working. Armin’s head rose and the blond smiled at him. Jean tried to smile back, but he didn’t know if he’d managed to do so. 

Marco gave him a discreet thumbs up  and Sasha, who stood by his side, smiled at him. Behind Armin, stood Eren and Mikasa. 

“Hey.” Jean said in a whisper. 

“Hi.” Armin replied in another.

 

\---------------------------------

 

_ Six months later _

 

Jean woke up in bed, alone. Armin had already left with Marco, just like he said he would, but spending months waking up feeling the blond’s body, his smell, his long golden locks had definitely spoiled the brunet.

He got up, took a quick shower, ate his breakfast and took his bag, leaving the house. It was his first day as a first grade teacher – Even though he had given a lot of private lessons to teenagers – and he was excited. 

As he got into the room, several students were  sitting on their chairs, staring at him. It was a little scary, actually. He put his bag on the desk and wrote his name on the board. Until he remembered most of them couldn’t read properly yet. 

“Huh... Hey, m-my name is Jean Kirstein. I’m your teacher and...” He took a few seconds to breath and counted the kids in the room. “You know what? Let’s do something fun. Everyone get up!” 

He said and pushed the chairs away, leaving a wide empty space in the middle of the room. He took  thirteen paper sheets and cut them in half, one half to each kid. 

“Okay, so!” He approached the first kid. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“A-Annie.” The little girl said, blushing at him. 

“Really? I have a friend with that same name! But she’s always frowning, like this.” He copied Annie’s expression, obviously exaggerated, and the kids laughed. “So, Annie, you’ll be the letter ‘A’. It’s your name’s first letter! Do you know how to write it?”

She denied with her head, lowering it. 

“No problem. We’re here to learn. I’ll teach you, okay? First you do like this... And then another line... And one in the middle.” He said as he wrote the letter in a notebook he held. “Now you try!” 

The kid wrote the letter on paper, proud of herself. 

“Very good! Congratulations!” 

He repeated the action until every kid had been assigned a letter. When he was done he started a game where each of them had the chance to say a word starting with that letter based on it’s sound. 

The kids ended up having a great time, and so did Jean. The next classes were easier and he realized teaching was just as good as he thought it would be.

 

\---------------------------------

 

When Armin came back home, Jean was planning his next class. He sat on the living room, creating the schedule  as the blond put his things down, sitting next to him. The brunet heard a deep sigh next to him and felt his husband leaning against him. 

“Hey. What’s wrong?” Jean put one arm around him, kissing his head. 

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Armin said as he grabbed Jean’s torso. “Can we take a shower? I want you to wash my hair.”

The hair washing. It was like Armin’s way of saying he needed to be close to his husband and relax . Jean smiled, kissing him and getting up. 

“Come on.” He pulled Armin by the hand and they got into the bathroom. They got under the shower and Jean sat on the edge of the tub to wash Armin’s long hair. The blond sat in front of him, delicately playing with the few inches of water they had filled the tub with. 

“I... I found my mother today.” Armin finally said after long minutes of silence.

“What?! Where?!” Jean leaned down to look at him.

“She’s... My new teacher.” 

“W-Wow... Have you talked to her?” Jean got back to his original position and continued to wash the other man’s hair.

“No, she-... She got away. I think she ran away from me.” Jean knew Armin was tearing up.

“I think you should try again. Maybe she got nervous, I dunno. Just try again. I think it’s worth it.” 

He was being honest. Even though he was angry at Armin’s mother for running, he knew some people deserved second chances.  He got one from pretty much everyone in his life, so it would be fair to give the mother-in-law one too.

“Okay.” Armin sighed. “I’ll give it another shot.”

“And don’t give up until she talks to you! This is important, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It is. Thank you. I love you.” Armin smiled, getting up and turning around to kiss him. “Open the drain, I have to rinse my hair.”

 

\---------------------------------

 

The weekend came and it was a chance for Jean to chat with Marco for a while. It had been a month since  they last visited and Mina was huge. There was no other word to describe it. 

“Argh, geez, seriously, this baby has to come out. It took me five minutes to walk to your house from the car. What the actual fuck?” She said, placing her hand on her stomach. 

“It’s my fault, dear. I parked it too far.” Marco got in, smiling like an idiot. “Hey man.” 

He gave Jean a quick hug, getting into the house. 

“You look great. Can I touch it?” Jean asked Mina.

“You can, but please stop talking for a second. He goes crazy whenever you say something.” Mina chuckled.

“Okay, sorry.” He smiled, putting his hand on Mina’s belly, crouching in front of her. “Hey, baby boy. How are you?” 

“I’m fine, thank you, uncle Jean.” Marco chuckled, placing his hand on Mina’s stomach as well.

“Okay, that’s it, enough of you losers. Shoo!” Mina laughed, pushing them away. “That’s enough belly-time for you. Where's Armin?” 

The two man laughed as  the woman sat on the couch. 

“He’s right here.” Armin said as he got into the room. “Hey, Marco.” 

The blond smiled and gave the other a quick hug before doing the same to Mina. 

“Hi, Armin. Hey, listen, I brought an awesome new game, dude.” Marco said, turning to Jean. “Wanna play?” 

By the way he rose his eyebrows Jean knew that the game wasn’t the main topic. They excused themselves and went into Jean and Armin’s room. Jean took of his shoes and got the controllers, laying on the bed. Marco put the game inside the console and copied Jean's actions, taking one of the controllers to himself.

“So, listen.” Marco whispered as they started playing. “I’m planning on asking Mina to marry me after the baby is born. It’ll be hard at first, but I was thinking about taking her somewhere nice, enjoying a whole day, and proposing at night in the restaurant we had our first date.”

“That sounds nice. She’s gonna love it.” Jean said.

“Yeah, so... I’m already asking because I want to have everything planned, so, hm... Sorry, but can you take care of the baby for the day?”

“Geez, your baby isn’t even born and you want to give it to me already?” Jean laughed, faking anger.

“Well, if that little bastard had come a little _later_ like he was _supposed_ to, I wouldn’t _have_ to ask!” Marco laughed even more. 

“Tsc. Kids these days. Being born when their parents fuck shit up.” Jean continued with this act.

“Hey, _the condom_ fucked shit up.” Marco laughed. “But I’m glad it didn’t work.”

“Yeah, I know. I can see it in your face. You’re always looking like a dork.” 

“Sorry.” Marco laughed, his eyes filling with tears. “It’s just... I love Mina so much and now she’s carrying my baby. It’s... _My_ baby.” 

“Argh, you’re such a crybaby.” Jean laughed and pulled him closer, with one arm. “And of course I’ll take care of your kid. You can go get laid. Wait, that’s not what you’re doing.” 

“No, it’s not.” Marco laughed, using Jean’s arm as a pillow.

“...But you’re totally hoping to get laid after it, aren’t you?” Jean asked after a few second of silence.

“Jean, I’m _always_ hoping to have sex with her. She’s gorgeous.” 

They chuckled as  they continued to play the game.

 

\---------------------------------

 

After Armin had talked to his mother, Jean offered to receive his parents at their home. He was nervous, but Armin was freaking out. He checked every corner of their house twice and tried to push Jean’s hair down with all his might.

“What’s the matter with your hair? It’s always messy!” The blond complained, trying to fix it.

“ We’ve been together for five years and you  _ still  _ don’t know that? Stop it!” He pushed Armin’s hands away. “Leave it alone. It’s fine. Calm down. You don’t owe them anything.”

“I-I know, but still...” Armin lowered his head, trying to calm himself down. 

“Just relax, okay? It’ll be fine.” Jean kissed him to help.

Armin ran to the door and opened it, giving his mother a hug and inviting her in. She approached Jean, extending her hand.

“Hello! You’re Jean, right?” 

“Yes. You’re Emily, right?” 

“Yes.” She smiled and Jean was surprised to find Armin’s smile in hers. “Are you taking care of him? He’s a good man, isn’t he?” 

“He is. He’s the amazing. And I’m doing my best to take care of him.”

“Thank you.” 

Jean saw her eyes fill with water before Armin took her and his father to the couches.

“Please, sit down. Um... This is my husband, Jean Kirstein.” He held Jean’s hand, smiling.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jean. I’m Emily Harmon, and this is my husband Leon.” She introduced herself properly, smiling at him. 

“It’s nice to meet you, mam. Sir.” Jean shook their hands, trying to be as formal as he could. 

“So... Um... How did you two meet?” After a few seconds of silence, Armin’s father finally asked and his son looked at Jean before starting to tell the story.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Later, that night, Jean got out of the shower to lay beside his husband. Armin was reading a large book, seeming to be really interested. Jean gave him time to enjoy it, but it was starting to get annoying, so he decided to take the blond’s focus to himself. He kissed Armin’s neck, cheek and jawline as he slowly got closer to the blond. The other started chuckling  before finally complaining.

“Just wait! I’m just finishing this chapter!” Armin said as he pushed him away. 

“Noooo, let go of this book! Your husband needs you!” Jean laughed, throwing himself on top of the blond.

“ My  _ husband _ c an wait ten fucking minutes!”  Armin laughed, turning on his side to finish his reading.

“Come ooooon, babe. I wanna watch our wedding video.” Jean had been planning to watch it ever since Armin’s parents saw their wedding pictures. 

“What?” Armin closed his book, putting it on the nightstand.“Why?”

“Well... I dunno. But I think we recorded it to watch it later, right? So why not today?”

“That’s sudden.” Armin chuckled and sat on the bed, closing his book. “But okay.”

Jean got up, taking the DVD and putting it on the player before laying down, his head on his husband’s chest. Armin caressed his head as the video showed the guests getting ready, images of the hotel, etc. 

When the ceremony started,  Armin was the first to say his vows, like Jean had chosen. He realized, later, that going after  _ Armin _ was much worse than going first. 

“ _Jean, there’s no way I can possibly say how much you mean to me using words. Actually, I could use every communication method on Earth and it still wouldn’t be enough. You taught me how to eat junk food, how to drink, how to deal with a hangover, how to sleep until noon... Basically you taught me all that I probably shouldn’t learn.” He laughed just like everyone else in the room. “But you also taught that it was okay to do those things once in a while. You taught me how to dive, how to kiss... How to _live _.”_

_ Armin took a moment to hold back his tears and Jean realized he had to do the same.  _

At this point, the Jean laying on bed was thankful that his husband wore a thick shirt that would prevent him from feeling the couple of tears falling from Jean’s eyes.

“ _But above all,” The digital Armin continued. “You taught me how to be brave. How to face my fears, no matter how big or small they were, you would always make me face them, with courage and pride. And for that I’ll never be able to thank you enough.” _

_ He concluded  and Jean smiled at him, holding his hands.  _

The real Jean smiled and accommodated himself better on his husband’s chest.

“ _ _I-Uh-...” The other Jean took deep breath before starting his own vows. “I’m not very good with words, but... I-I’ll do my best. Ever since I met you I was crazy. I mean, you looked so good and you were just so-... I dunno, anyway, I thought you were great. And smart. Which you really are! But, the reason I fell in love with you is because you’re something I’m not: You’re kind. I don’t go around punching people in the face...”__

It was so embarrassing Jean had to hide his face on Armin’s chest so he wouldn’t see his own flushed expression on the video.

_ “ _...Most_ _ _ _ of the  _ _ _ _ times.” He said and everyone in he room laughed. “But anyway, what I mean is: I’m not some horrible person, but you... You are too kind. Sometimes I get mad at you because you’re so sweet people step all over you. But then I think that might be because I love you so much. And if you were not like this I might not love you.” _ _

“ This is  _ _ painful  _ _ to watch.”  He commented, feeling his ears burn.

“ _ _ I-I MEAN...! I LOVE YOU NO MATTER WHAT, BUT-WHAT I LOVE MOST IS-!” The digital Jean continued until Armin put his hand the brunet’s mouth, chuck _ _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ ing. _ _

“ _ _ It’s okay. I know what you meant.” _ _

Jean felt Armin’s chest moving before the video was paused. He got up to find his husband sobbing.

“Why are you crying, silly?” The brunet gave him a kiss and asked.

“B-Because... Because you’re so good to me. You’re so honest and that’s why I love your lousy speeches! You-You love me so much, don’t you?” 

Armin was crying so much at this point and it was really confusing for Jean. How could he be crying and actually _asking_ if Jean loved him? The brunet didn’t understand how anyone could  _ not _ love Armin. He was perfect, in every way.

“Of course I do! I love you more than anything. And I always will.” Jean gave him a hug and a kiss on the head.

“ Me too. I’ll always love you too.”  Armin said as he tried to stop crying, hugging him. 

It was a strong hug that Jean made sure to reciprocate with the same intensity. 

“Come on, let’s watch the rest.” After a few minutes, Jean sat next to Armin, still holding him and the blond pressed play. 

There  were scenes from the party, the band and people eating and waving at the camera before the small interviews started. The first ones to show up were Jean’s parents. 

The cameraman approached just in time to hear Edmund saying his wife “looked like a racoon”, which made the real Jean and Armin laugh hard, specially because it was true. She had cried so much she was forced to wipe her eyes and her make up was a little blurred. Of course, that didn’t mean Edmund would get away without a slap on the arm.

As the cameraman asked them to send a message to the happy couple, Edmund thought for a while before saying something.

“ _Son, use a condom. You have no money to raise a baby yet.”_

Obviously that earned him another slap from Jean’s mother and a laugh from the cameraman. 

“ _See? This guy gets me. I like him.” Edmund said and his wife nearly blew up his head with her eyes._

“ _Son, I hope you two have an amazing life together, a nd _ _ I hope you take care of each other. Also, please don’t make horrible jokes on your  future  son or daughter’s wedding.” His mother said, giving Edmund an angry look before her husband gave her a hug and a kiss. Her frown instantly disappeared.  _

“Remember when I told the cameraman to keep everything, even if it was ‘unusual’?  Yeah, t hat was a  bad idea.” Jean chuckled and so did Armin.

After a few more messages, they were announced and walked into the room for their first dance. The real Jean took Armin’s hand just as his  digital double did the same. They could see a few people crying on the tables, watching them.

“You know they’re crying because I’m a horrible dancer, right?” Armin said, his voice still a little weird from all the crying.

“Yeah, probably.” Jean agreed and received a soft slap in return. “At least you can properly move your hips in bed.” 

“Jean!!!” Armin got away from the brunet, hitting him with a pillow. 

Jean laughed and took the pillow, throwing it on the bed before hugging the blond, throwing him over the soft mattress, giving him a kiss. 

“It’s good to see your smile again.” He whispered, pushing Armin’s bangs back. “Even if they’re tears of happiness, I never want to see you cry again. I want to make you the happiest man on Earth.” 

Armin got quiet, clearly trying to hold back his tears and kissed Jean. 

“Then stay with me.” Armin whispered back as he hugged Jean’s neck, pulling him closer.

“I will.” 

Jean completely laid down on top of his husband, relaxing and letting his weight on him.  He hid his face in the blond’s neck, kissing his shoulder next and, for a second, he remembered the first time they met.  He remembered when he was so in love with Armin he couldn’t take his eyes of him. He remembered the moment prayed to God so he would stop loving Armin that much because it would make his heart ache.

And then he remembered  his own words: “ I hope you have something much better prepared for me, you hear?”

_ You really  had , huh?  _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah... I hope you liked the proposal. I just had to make it funny because, come on, it's Jean. Hahaha! But anyway, I hope it was amusing and not too... Surreal.  
> And I hope you like the ending and everything else as well. I hope it was enough to satisfy you guys!  
> Um... See you next "chapter".


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a cute Bott/Kirstein family tradition.

Jean was about to leave work when his phone beeped. He took it out of his pocket just to see an Twitter update from Armin.

**Dumping my man @jkirs ! Found a much better male specimen.**

Jean got confused until he saw the picture attached to it. It was Armin, laying on ice, with a huge seal laying on top of him, as he gave it a kiss.

The brunet laughed, but didn’t reply. He had other business to attend to: he was about to meet Kim Tae, a young pregnant girl that might give them her baby.

He walked to the caffe where they were supposed to meet and waited for the young girl, who arrived just a few minutes later, accompanied by her mother. Both of them were Asians, but unlike the older, the girl had light brown eyes. She sat down in front of him and her mother sat right beside her.

“Thank you for coming.” Jean said, smiling. “Can I offer you something?”

The girl shyly denied and her mother raised a hand to do the same.

“Um, so, I think I’ll just tell you about myself first and then, if you want to, you can ask questions and share whatever you feel comfortable. Is this okay?”

She nodded, approving his method. Her mother barely moved.

“Well, you probably know that already, but I’m a teacher. I teach the first grade and my husband is an oceanographer. He’s really smart and he was invited to join an expedition by one of his formercollege teachers, so... That’s why he can’t be here today.”

Mother and daughter listened carefully, but didn’t say a word.

“Well, anyway, I know this is your decision, and I’m not trying to create pressure or anything, but I just wanted you to know that if we get this baby, we’ll take such a good care of him.”

“Her.” The girl finally said, with a low voice.

“W-What?” Jean asked.

“It’s a girl.”

Jean felt his heart nearly explode inside his chest and had to hold back his tears. It was a girl. They would be happy with any baby they could get, but deep inside Jean always wanted a girl, and now it was possible.

“A-Anyway...” He took a sip of his coffee to conceal his feelings. “We’ll take really good care of her. We’ll provide her with everything she needs, always. We also have my best friend and his amazing wife visiting us all the time. They have a three year old son, so she’ll always have company.”

Jean smiled and the girl did the same. Her mother wasn’t just as happy, but she wasn’t frowning anymore.

“Well, do you have any questions for me?” Jean asked.

“...Do you have pictures of your house? Your husband?” She asked.

“Oh, yeah! Sure!” Jean took his phone and got closer to the girl, showing her the pictures. “This is my husband, on the couch of our house. This is us, outside of the house. This little guy is the one I was telling you about. His name’s Luca.”

Jean would always show the picture to the girls mother before skipping to the next. He made sure he had the best pictures on his phone, just in case. The first one was Armin, sitting on their couch with a blanket over his legs as he drank some hot chocolate from a mug, smiling kindly.

The next was a picture of them, outside of their house. They had just bought it and Jean hugged Armin from behind as the blond touched his hands. It was cute, but the last one was the cutest.

It was taken on a snowy day and Luca wore gloves and a beanie. He was holding a snowball he’d made a few moments earlier and showing it to Jean, with a big smile on his face.

By the time Jean had showed them all the pictures the girl had a soft smile on her face. They chatted for a few more minutes before she got up, ready to leave, saying she had liked him. Jean asked for a picture and they took it before she left. Her mother didn’t say anything, but as the girl reached the door, the woman came back and extended her hand to Jean.

“Thank you.” She said.

“F-For what?” He shook her hand.

“I wasn’t comfortable with my granddaughter being given to a... Homosexual couple.” She admitted. “But I guess you’re fine, so... Thank you for changing my mind. I think you’ll be great parents.”

Jean didn’t even had a chance to reply before she left. He had changed someone’s opinion _and_ he might _actually_ have a baby girl in a few months. He was so happy he could dance.

 

\---------------------------------

 

A few days later they were fighting Armin’s horrible internet connection. It had been two months since his husband had left to go on an expedition and Jean was missing him like he had been gone for two _years_.

As soon as Armin showed up Jean realized the blond’s hair was gone. Armin had cut it really short and kept only his bangs.

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR???” Jean shouted, instantly.

“Hello to you too.” Armin chucked, touching what was left of his hair.

“W-Wha-B-But-... Your hair...” Jean was shocked.

“I decided to cut it. It was annoying. Anyway, how are you?” Armin replied casually.

“I-...!” Jean calmed himself down from the shock and remembered the purpose of that call. “So, I-I have some news for you.”

“Oh, really?” Armin smiled and it felt like a stab in Jean’s heart. He was so gorgeous... And so far away. “What is it?”

Jean looked for the picture with the girl and showed it to Armin.

“Can you see it?” He asked.

Armin stared at the picture for a while before covering his mouth and nose with his hands.

“Oh my God. I-Is she...?”

“Yes. She’s _seriously_ considering giving us her baby. And it’s a _girl_!” Jean said, feeling the tears coming to his eyes.

“Just like you wanted! Oh my God, Jean, this is so great!”

Jean was glad to see Armin getting excited about the baby. After Luca was born they started to talk about it, but the blond was still unsure. After a year of discussion they decided to adopt a baby.

“I know! I hope we get her. I’m so excited.”

“I hope so too. Ugh, okay, let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to get my hopes up! How are you? How’s everyone?” Armin shook his head and smiled at him.

“Oh, everything is okay. We miss you. _I_ miss you.” Jean replied. “Oh, by the way, Luca loved your picture with the seal. He asked if you were going to ‘teach it how to balance a ball on it’s nose.’”

Armin laughed and so did Jean. They chatted for a while before finally hanging up.

 

\---------------------------------

 

After about four months, Armin came back. Jean called Marco who picked him up at his place to go get his husband from the airport. At times like this, not having a car sucked. But Marco didn’t mind driving them when it was something important like this.

As soon as the blond showed up the brunet gave him a fierce and long kiss. He waited for so long he didn’t even remember Marco and Luca were there until he heard the little boy laughing and saying “They’re kissing!” to his father.

Jean let go and the group chatted until they got home. Armin asked Marco if he wanted to stay, but he denied and left with Luca. Deep inside, Jean was glad he did; specially when Armin bent over to put his suitcases on the floor.

Instantly, Jean remembered how much he missed _that_ too. As soon as Armin stood up again Jean grabbed him and threw him on the wall with a kiss. The blond quickly grabbed his belt, trying to unbuckle it with one hand, as the other grabbed Jean’s hair, leading the kiss.

“Fuck, I missed you so much!” Jean chuckled.

“I-Hmp! I missed you too.” Armin tried to say as Jean kept interrupting him with kisses. “Hm! Shower! Come on.”

Jean didn’t need to be asked twice. Without letting Armin go he lead the blond to the bathroom upstairs.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Jean woke up in the middle of the night feeling Armin moving on top of him. The blond was talking to someone on the phone, but Jean was too sleepy to catch up with the conversation. He moved his arms under the pillow he was using and got into a better position, making Armin get off him.

Suddenly, the blond was shouting and hit him in the back.

“OW! WHAT THE FUCK???” He complained, getting up and trying to turn on the lights. “What is it?”

He rubbed his eyes, still trying to wake up.

“IT’S THE BABY!!! THE BABY IS COMING!!!” Armin shouted and dashed out of the room. “MARCO, WAKE UP, THE BABY IS COMING!!! WE’LL BE WALKING TO ST. MARY’S, MEET US HALFWAY!!!”

Jean could hear him shouting from downstairs as he put on a shirt that had been left on the floor — Which he suspected it was Armin’s considering how small they felt. — and ran after his husband. 

After a few minutes of running and panicking from Armin’s part, Marco showed up and they got into his car.  They were taken to the hospital and waited. 

Armin’s legs were shaking as he tried to held them in place and Jean put his hand on the blond’s back, trying to calm him down. Marco sat in an armchair next to them as the social assistant approached.

“So, are you ready to see your baby?” She asked and the three men got up at the same time. 

“Oh my God! We’re getting her, babe!” Jean hugged Armin, smiling like an idiot and turned to Marco for a second. “We’re getting our baby.” 

“I know that! Just go!!!” Marco laughed, giving him a little push.

Jean pulled Armin to the room and the nurse handed the baby girl over. Jean took her, looking at her face, smiling. 

“She’s so wonderful...” Jean didn’t know who he was talking to. He just had to say it. 

“Congratulations.” The nurse said, smiling at them. 

“Thank you.” Jean smiled, turning to Armin. “Here, babe. Take her.”

Armin stood there, eyes empty as he stared at the baby. 

“Armin. Armin! Take her.” Jean insisted. 

“I-I can’t. I can’t, she’s so tiny. I’m gonna hurt her.” He stepped back, shaking a little.

“No you won’t, silly. Come on, it’s our baby. Hold her.” Jean tried again.

Armin looked at him, hesitating, but ended up carefully taking the baby from his arms. 

“Oh my God, Jean. S-She’s perfect.” He finally said, starting to cry.

“ I know.”  Jean held his face, kissing him. “And she’s  _ ours _ . ”

“She is. She... Really is. We should thank her. Kim. Can we?” Armin turned around and asked the social assistant.

“I’ll check.” She said and left the room.

After a few minutes, she came back and they got into the room to thank the young girl. Armin stood a little far away a s Jean got closer.

“H-Hello, Kim. We didn’t have a chance to meet in person, but I’m Armin. I-I just wanna thank you, so much, for doing this. We’ll always send pictures and we’ll take good care of her, I swear. She’ll have the best live we can possibly provide.” Jean could see the tears in his eyes. 

“I-I know.” She cried but tried to smile softly.

“Thank you so much. I hope you have an amazing life.” Jean took her hand. “You deserve it. You really do.”

“T-Thank you.” She hugged Jean, who reciprocated as he exchanged a meaningful look with her mother. “Take care of her.”

“We will.” Jean said. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

After a few minutes, they left the room and Marco got up, looking at them. Jean approached and gave him a hug. 

“She’s ours, Marco. She’s ours.” He said.

“I know!” He chuckled. “Let me see her, let me see her!” 

Marco let him go, getting closer to Armin and looking at the baby. Armin handed her over and Marco took her.

“Hey, baby. How are you? Ohh, congratulations.” He chuckled. “She’s great, you guys. You’ll make wonderful parents.” 

Marco smiled and gave her back to Armin.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Jean was sitting on the couch, cuddling with Armin as the blond held the baby. Marco knocked on the door and got in, using his key. 

“Hey.” He said.

“Hey, man.” Jean carefully got up and so did Armin.

“Everything ready?” Marco asked.

“Yup.” Jean replied, taking the camera from the table and turning it on. “Okay, get him.”

Marco went back to the door and made a signal for Mina to get in with Luca. Jean was filming it as the little boy entered the house, holding his mother’s hand. 

“Hey, look over there. Uncle Jean is filming you. Can you say why you’re here?” Marco asked, crouching beside his son.

“TO MEET THE BABY!” He said, excited. 

“Yeah, that’s right. But don’t yell.” Marco chuckled and took him by the hand to get closer to Armin. 

The blond knelt, letting Luca get closer. The boy stared at her and turned to his father.

“Is she sleeping?” He asked in a whisper.

“What? No.” Marco replied, confused. 

“Then why are her eyes closed?” 

Luca asked and everyone in the room got quiet for a few seconds before starting to laugh uncontrollably. The boy was confused  and just stared at them.

“H-Her eyes are open, son. Look closer.” Marco said, trying to contain his laugh. 

Luca got closer, furrowing his eyebrows.

“OH! I SAW HER EYE!!! THEY ARE TINY, JUST LIKE HER!!!” Luca shouted, stomping his feet on the floor and shaking his little arms around.

“Y-Yes they are.” Marco agreed, still trying not to laugh. 

“She's pretty! Gimme! I wanna hold her!” He extended his arms, opening and closing his little hands. 

“Okay, sit on the couch first.” Armin said and Luca quickly obeyed. “Now, put your arms like this and be careful, okay? She’s heavy.” 

Luca nodded and took her, being careful. Mina approached and started taking pictures just as Marco stepped back and approached Jean, who had just turned off the camera. 

“Man... My son is holding your daughter.” Marco said, with tears in his eyes.

“I know. How awesome is that?” Jean replied, equally touched. 

“It’s amazing.” Marco gave him a hug.

 

\---------------------------------

 

That night, Armin was changing Amy’s diaper as Jean got out of the shower. 

“HA! I finally did it.” He shower her to Jean. “Sooo, what do you think?” 

“...The diaper is backwards.” Jean said, drying his hair with a towel.

“What? No way!” Armin checked. “Oh, come on! I’m fucking smart, why can’t I put a diaper on a baby? This is ridiculous!” 

“Relax. It’s fine. But I must say this is your fault.” Jean took her and laid her on the bed, fixing the diaper. “If you had changed Luca’s diapers you’d know how to do it by now.”

“Oh, shut up.” Armin pushed him and hugged him from behind. “You’re perfect, you know that?”

“Liar. You’re the one who’s perfect. There.” Jean sat on the bed, holding her. 

“... _She’s_ perfect.” Armin said, sitting by his side, kissing him on the cheek.

“She is.” Jean agreed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I am DONE!!!  
> Oh my God, you guys, I can't even begin to thank you for reading this! When I first posted this story I thought no one would read it, specially because I know my English is still far from perfect. But now I see all the comments, kudos and bookmarks you guys so kindly shared and I feel extremely grateful. I can't even believe it. All I can possibly say is: THANK YOU!!!  
> Thank you so much for the support and I hope I can continue to provide stories that please you! I, actually, have another Jearmin fic in progress (I'll try to post the first chapter ASAP!) and a possible spin-off for this series (Not confirmed yet.). I hope you like what I have planned!!!
> 
> Once again, thank you VERY much for the support and I hope you have enjoyed this story!!! Thank you for reading!!!


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